LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


THE   ANCESTRY   OF 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


THE  ANCESTRY  OF 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


J.  HENRY  LEA  AND 
J.  R.  HUTCHINSON 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
BOSTON   AND   NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT,  I909 

BY  J.   HENRY  LEA  AND  J.  R.  HUTCHINSON 

ALL   RIGHTS  RESERVED 


Chf  fciDcrsibc  |3rtSS 

CAMBRIDGE  •  MASSACHUSETTS 

PRINTED  IN  THE  U.S.A. 


TO  ALL 
-  LINCOLN  LOVERS 

THROUGHOUT  THE  LENGTH  AND 

BREADTH  OF  THE  LAND 

WHICH  HE  SAVED 

THIS 

VINDICATION 

OF  THE 

MEMORY  OF  HIS  ANCESTORS 

IS  DEDICATED  BY 

THE  AUTHORS 


€ 


viii  PREFACE 

In  the  obscure  and  difficult  task  of  the  verification  of  the  American 
Pedigree,  the  writer  has  to  thank  especially,  among  the  many  kind 
friends  who  have  aided  him,  Mrs.  Caroline  Hanks  Hitchcock  of 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  who  generously  placed  at  his  disposal  her 
large  MS.  collections  on  the  Hanks  and  Lincoln  families,  Major 
George  Chrism  an  of  Chris  man  Post  Office,  Rockingham  County, 
whose  aid  alone  made  possible  any  progress  in  Virginia  and  to  whom 
we  owe  the  discovery  of  the  Herring  connection  {heretofore  unsus- 
pected), Gilbert  Cope  of  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  whose  collec- 
tions have  been  freely  drawn  upon  for  all  the  portion  of  the  work 
touching  Pennsylvania  and  the  Quakers,  Miss  Mary  "Josephine  Roe 
of  Gilbert,  Ohio  [a  Lincoln  descendant),  and  lastly,  his  daughter, 
Frances  Trumbull  Lea,  who  made  a  personal  journey  to  the  Lincoln 
Country  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  of  Virginia,  during  the  burning 
heats  of  the  past  summer,  in  the  endeavour  to  elicit  facts  which  cor- 
respondence failed  to  reveal. 

Such  as  it  is,  the  writer  submits  the  completed  genealogy  to  the 
American  people  whom  Lincoln  loved  so  well,  as  a  slight  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  their  best  and  wisest  Statesman,  Father  and  Friend. 
For  him  no  defence,  no  vindication,  was  needed,  but  it  is  a  matter  of 
pride  that  it  has  been  possible  to  place  his  forefathers  once  more  in  the 
ranks  of  their  equals,  a  position  from  which  they  should  never  have 
been  deposed. 

J.  Henry  Lea. 

Elmlea,  Thursday,  15  October,  1908. 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTORY                                                   Page  xiii 

PART  I.    THE  ENGLISH  ANCESTRY 

I.    The  Emigrant,  his  Home  and  Parentage  3 

II.    A  Family  Quarrel  and  its  Consequences  13 

III.  Five  Generations  of  a  Norfolk  House  25 

IV.  The  Social  Status  of  the  Lincolns  33 
V.    Carbrooke  and  the  Remchings  39 

VI.    The  Ketts  of  Wymondham  45 

VII.    The  Norfolk  Furies  (with  Genealogical 

Table)  51 

PART  II.    THE  AMERICAN  ANCESTRY 

VIII.    The  American  Pedigree  (with  Genealo- 
gical Table)  63 

IX.    Cognate  Families  87 

X.    Thomas  Lincoln — the  Man  123 

XI.    Inherited  Traits  135 

APPENDIX 

I.    Feet  of  Fines  143 

II.    Chancery  Proceedings  145 


x  CONTENTS 

III.  Wills  (English)  150 

IV.  Registers  of  Hingham,  Norfolk  157 
V.  Registers  of  Swanton  Morley,  Norfolk  160 

VI.  Carbrooke  Parish  Register  163 

VII.  Account  of  Baptismal  Font  from  Hingham 

Church  105 

VIII.  Wills  (American)  168 

IX.  Pennsylvania  Records  171 

X.  Miscellaneous  Records  174 

XI.  Deeds  182 

XII.  Survey  Bills  200 

XIII.  The  Herring  Family  202 

XIV.  Epitaphs  in  Linvill  Creek  Cemetery,  Virginia       204 

INDEX  205 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Font  from  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Hingham, 
Norfolk,  Fourteenth  Century,  now  at 
Cohasset,  Mass.  Frontispiece 

By  permission  of  Rev.  H.  K.  Bartow,  Rector 

Old  Map  of  Norfolk,  Sixteenth  Century      Page         3 

From  a  cotemporary  engraving 

View  of  City  of  Norwich,  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury 4 

From  a  cotemporary  engraving 

First  Glimpse  of  Hingham  8 

Lincoln  Mural  Tablet,  Church  of  St.  Mary 

Coslany,  Norwich  10 

Facsimile  of  Chancery  Proceeding  14 

St.  Andrew's  Church,  Hingham,  Norfolk  18 

First  Sheet  of  Richard  Lincoln's  Will  22 

All  Saints  Church,  Swanton  Morley,  Nor- 
folk 26 

Hingham  Parish  Register  laid  open  at  the 

Year  1622-23  3° 

By  permission  of  Rev.  A.  W.   Upcher,  Rector 

View  of  Norwich  Castle,  Sixteenth  Century  52 

From  a  extemporary  engraving 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Old  Ship  Meeting-House,  Hingham,Mass.  64 

Enoch  Lincoln,  Governor  of  Maine  74 

Levi  Lincoln,  Governor  of  Massachusetts  84 

From  a  portrait  in  possession  of  Lincoln  N.  Kinnicutt 

Hughes  Station,  Kentucky,  Home  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  Grandfather  of  the 
President,  1782  124 

From  a  cotemporary  drawing  in  possession  of  Col.  R.  T. 
Durrett 

Monument  to  Nancy  Hanks,  Spencer  County, 

Indiana,  dedicated  October,  1902  130 

From  a  photograph  in  possession  of  Mrs.  C.  H.  Hitchcock 

Fountain  Square,  Hingham,  Mass.,  Lincoln 

Homestead  on  the  Right  138 

From  a  rare  photograph  in  possession  of  Miss  Elizabeth 
L.  Crosby 

Signatures  of  Seven  Generations  of  Ameri- 
can Lincolns,  1 649-1 865  140 

Note  :  The  tail-piece  for  Part  I  is  the  seal  used  by  Richard  Lincoln  in 
attesting  his  will.  The  back  of  the  half-title  of  the  Appendix  is  the  arms  of 
Bird  of  Witchingham. 


INTRODUCTORY 


IT  has  been  the  general  belief,  a  belief  which  was  shared  even 
by  the  illustrious  President  himself,  that  Abraham  Lin- 
coln's remote  ancestry,  as  well  as  his  immediate  parent- 
age, was  of  the  humblest ;  that  the  Lincoln  Family  were  so  low 
born  as  to  make  it  a  futile  task  to  endeavour  to  penetrate  the 
obscurity  from  which  they  sprung,  and  that  the  commanding 
figure  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  mere  fortuitous  circumstance, 
a  "sport"  of  nature,  rather  than  the  result  of  centuries  of  in- 
bred and  inherited  qualities  derived  from  worthy  forefathers. 
In  view  of  the  indisputable  facts  of  the  poverty  of  his  par- 
ents and  his  own  consequent  early  struggle  against  every  dis- 
advantage, this  was  a  not  unnatural  conclusion  to  be  reached  by 
many  of  the  ephemeral  and  superficial  writers  who  first  dealt 
with  his  biography.  Their  hasty  summaries  were  buttressed 
and  built  upon  by  the  perfervid  imaginations  of  penny-a-liners, 
whose  sole  object  seems  to  have  been  to  magnify  the  great- 
ness of  the  man  by  decrying  his  origin,  until  their  fables  were 
impressed  as  facts  upon  the  minds  of  the  majority  of  even  the 
more  intelligent  people  of  the  country. 

With  the  natural  tendency  of  popular  biographers,  writing 
to  please  the  proletariat,  all  stress  has  been  laid  on  the  poverty 
and  ignorance  of  Lincoln's  parents,  and  out  of  this  has  grown 
the  vulgar  and  scandalous  conception  that  Thomas  Lincoln 
could  not  have  been  the  father  of  so  great  a  son  ;  and  this 
was  carried  so  far,  bitter  political  enemies  having  joined  forces 
with  his  illogical  partisans,1  as  to  have  denied  even  to  the 

1  "  I  condemn  the  man  [Herndon]  for  what  he  has  said  about  her  "  (Letter 
of  J.  F.  Speed  to  Mrs.  C.  H.  Hitchcock,  8  February,  1895).  "  If  Lincoln  ever 


xiv  INTRODUCTORY 

gentle  and  lovable  mother  who  bore  him,  and  of  whom  he 
always  spoke  with  such  deep  reverence  and  affection,1  the  very 
right  to  the  name  by  which  she  was  known.2 

In  spite  of  this  general  acceptance  of  pauper  progenitors, 
there  were,  even  during  the  President's  lifetime,  some  suspi- 
cions of  the  truth,  and  a  derivation  from  the  sturdy  stock  of 
the  Lincolns  of  Hingham,  Mass.,  was  suggested  and  its  possi- 
bility recognised  with  pleasure  by  Lincoln  himself.3 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  exact  reverse  of  this  lowly  origin 
of  the  Lincoln  Family  was  the  case,  and  this  will  receive  its 
final  and  convincing  proof  in  the  following  pages,  in  which 
will  be  demonstrated  the  fact  that  for  four  centuries  the  an- 
cestors of  Abraham  Lincoln  were  easily  the  peers  of  their 
associates  in  England  as  well  as  in  America ;  as  prosperous  yeo- 
men or  minor  gentry  in  the  Old  World,  and,  from  the  time  of 
their  arrival  in  the  Colony,  foremost  in  the  ranks  of  those  who 
developed  the  wilderness  into  the  fair  land  we  love  to-day,  and 
of  which  their  descendant  was  destined  to  be  the  savior. 

Of  the  eleven  generations  of  clearly  proven  ancestry,  one 
generation  only,  the  President's  unfortunate  father,  has  been 
unable  to  maintain  the  claim  of  primus  inter  pares,  and  this 
through  no  fault  of  his  own,  but  by  a  chain  of  calamities 
even  more  tragic  and  fatal  to  him  than  those  which  deprived 

told  such  a  story  to  Herndon  —  which  may  be  confidently  disbelieved  —  he 
was  mistaken,  and  must  have  been  misled  by  some  evil  whisper  unhappily 
brought  to  his  ears."  ("  The  Mother  of  Lincoln,"  by  H.  M.  Jenkins,  Penn. 
Hist.  Mag.,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  130.) 

'  Holland's  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  23. 

2  This  myth,  at  first  not  admitted  to  print,  existed  orally  and  seems  to  have 
crawled  into  the  light  of  day  in  the  maliciously  mendacious  statement  of  Hern- 
don that  Lincoln  himself  had  so  informed  him  {Life  of  Lincoln,  vol.  i,  p.  3) ;  the 
fabrication  of  an  embittered  office-seeker  whose  ambition  outran  his  ability,  and 
whose  falsehood  has  now  been  made  plain  by  recently  discovered  proofs  which 
have  swept  away  all  possible  doubts  in  either  case. 

1  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  July,  1894,  vol.  xlviii,  p.  328. 


INTRODUCTORY  xv 

Edward  Lincoln,  the  father  of  Samuel  Lincoln,  the  English 
emigrant,  of  his  birthright.1 

Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  clear  away  the  mystery 
surrounding  the  genealogy  of  the  family,  beginning  in  1848, 
when  Hon.  Solomon  Lincoln,  the  well-known  historian  of 
Hingham,  Mass.,  in  correspondence  with  Abraham  Lincoln, 
then  a  member  of  Congress,  elicited  from  him  his  scanty 
knowledge  of  his  forefathers.  This  material  was  not  printed 
until  after  the  President's  death,2  and  was  followed,  a  year 
later,  by  the  best  of  the  early  histories  of  Lincoln,3  in  which 
was  set  forth  for  the  first  time  an  outline  of  what  has  since 
proved  to  be  substantially  the  correct  pedigree  of  the  Ameri- 
can lineage. 

Gradually  other  contributions  to  the  truth  filtered  to  light, 
notably  those  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Potts  of  Camden,  N.  J.,4  and  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Shackford  of  Chicago,5  the  latter  being  a  mas- 
terly resume  of  the  facts  proving  the  direct  descent  of  the 
President's  family  from  the  parent  stock  at  Hingham,  Mass. 

The  American  Pedigree  had  now  been  placed  upon  a  sound 
basis  and  accepted  by  all  intelligent  writers,  although  certain 
details  of  no  small  importance  to  the  truth  of  history  still 
remained  hidden  and  will  be  first  made  public  here,  adding 
important  names  and  lineages  to  the  pedigree,  and,  in  some 
cases,  disproving  statements  honestly  put  forward  as  facts,  but 
which  will  not  bear  the  lime-light  of  criticism,  and  whose 
elimination  but  leaves  the  proven  pedigree  stronger  by  so  much 
in  the  test  which  has  been  applied  to  it. 

The  English  Ancestry  had  remained  until  recently  an  un- 

1  See  English  Ancestry,  infra. 

2  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg. ,  October,  1865,  vol.  xix,  p.  360. 

3  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  J.  G.  Holland,  1866. 

4  N.  T.  Gen.  and  Biog.  Record,  April,  1872,  vol.  iii,  p.  69. 

5  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  April,  1887,  vol.  xli,  p.  153.    A  portion  of  this 
article  had  already  appeared  in  the  Chicago  Tribune. 


xvi  INTRODUCTORY 

solved,  and  apparently  insoluble,  problem,  and  one  with  which 
the  American  author  had  battled  for  a  score  of  years,  the  last 
three  of  which  were  in  conjunction  with  his  English  col- 
league, to  whose  keen  eye  it  was  given  at  last  to  detect  the 
one  document  which  could  ever  have  given  the  key  to  the 
hidden  mystery.  This  happy  discovery  brought  order  out  of 
the  chaos  of  documents,  abstracts,  and  references  so  painfully 
accumulated,  which  now  fell  together  like  the  pattern  in  a 
kaleidescope  or  the  blocks  of  a  Chinese  puzzle. 

The  long  quest,  ended  at  last,  and  crowned  by  a  reward 
far  exceeding  the  most  sanguine  anticipations,  now  enables 
us  to  give  to  history,  in  one  of  the  clearest  and  most  perfectly 
proven  pedigrees  that  it  has  ever  been  our  fortune  to  con- 
struct, the  full  lineage  of  the  Greatest  American. 

Finis  coronat  opus. 


PART   I 
THE   ENGLISH   ANCESTRY 


THE  ANCESTRY  OF 
ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  EMIGRANT,  HIS  HOME  AND 

PARENTAGE 

LEAVING  the  train  at  Kimberley  station  on  the  Norwich 
and  Dereham  line,  and  taking  the  road  to  Watton, — 
^J  the  reputed  scene  of  the  murder  of  the  "  Babes  in  the 
Wood," — you  find  yourself,  after  a  couple  of  miles  of  almost 
imperceptible  ascent  between  typical  English  hedgerows,  on 
the  crest  of  a  billow  of  hills  of  no  great  height,  extending, 
roughly  speaking,  from  northwest  to  southeast  of  the  horizon. 
You  are  here  in  the  very  heart  of  a  region  of  churches.  From 
the  spot  where  you  stand  half  a  score  or  more  of  towers  and 
spires,  marking  each  its  thickly  planted  God's-acre,  may  be 
picked  out  on  a  clear  day  from  amidst  the  surrounding  land- 
scape. The  nearest  rises  directly  before  you — a  square  gray 
tower  in  a  setting  of  green — at  the  distance  of  a  short  mile.  It 
marks  the  site  of  what  is  destined  to  become,  in  the  eyes  of 
every  patriotic  American  citizen,  a  national  Mecca  ;  for  in  it  we 
have  our  first  glimpse  of  Hingham,  the  birthplace  of  the  man 
who  gave  to  America  one  of  her  greatest  sons — Abraham 
Lincoln. 

Of  all  the  towns  and  villages  in  England  which,  close  upon 
three  centuries  ago,  contributed  each  its  quota  of  hardy  pio- 


4        THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

neers  towards  the  settlement  of  the  American  colonies,  none 
gave  more  generously  of  her  best  and  dearest  than  did  this  old- 
time  market-town  dozing  beneath  her  gray  church-tower. 
Her  sons  were  "  weary  of  forcing  their  beards  into  the  ortho- 
dox bent,''  of  "barking  at  the  bishops,"  of  tilling  a  soil  they 
could  never  call  their  own.  Other  conditions,  they  had  heard, 
prevailed  beyond  the  seas,  in  a  newer,  broader  land  where  the 
breath  of  life  was  not  yet  grown  effete.  Undeterred  by  the 
reputed  hardships  of  existence  there,  they  flocked  westward, 
eager  to  be  free. 

Amongst  those  who  in  the  later  thirties  of  the  seventeenth 
century  were  overtaken  by  the  swiftly  rising  tide  of  emigra- 
tion, was  a  Norfolk  youth  named  Samuel  Lincoln.  Born  in 
Hingham,  he  had  been  early  apprenticed  to  one  Francis 
Lawes  of  Norwich,  and  it  was  in  his  capacity  of  indentured 
servant  to  this  man  —  a  weaver  by  trade  —  that  he  embarked 
for  America,  together  with  his  master  and  his  master's  family, 
either  at  the  port  of  Ipswich  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Suf- 
folk,—  or  at  Yarmouth,  in  his  native  county,1  —  on  the  eighth 
day  of  April,  1637.  The  passage  was  no  Mauretanian  one.  For 
two  months  and  twelve  days  the  vessel  breasted  the  Atlantic, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  20th  of  June  that  Lawes  and  his  party, 
disembarking  at  Boston,  first  set  foot  on  the  soil  of  their  adop- 
tion.  Our  boy-pioneer  was  then — how  old? 

On  this  point  there  is  much  conflict  of  evidence.  It  was  on 
Sunday,  the  24th  of  August,  1622,  that  he  was  publicly  bap- 
tised at  the  font  of  the  parish  church  of  Hingham,  and  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  things  he  would  then  be  only  a  few  days, 
or  at  the  most  only  a  few  weeks,  old.  This  would  make  his 
age  about  fifteen  at  the  time  of  his  emigration.  The  shipping 
lists  which  have  come  down  to  us,  on  the  other  hand,  give  his 

1  For  the  cause  of  this  uncertainty  see  entry  in  the  Shipping  List  in  Appendix, 
p.  164. 


THE   EMIGRANT  5 

age  at  that  time  as  eighteen ;  and  this  agrees  with  his  age  as 
recorded  at  death,  which  occurred  in  1 690,  when  he  is  said  to 
have  been  seventy-one.  If,  however,  we  assume  these  figures 
to  be  correct,  we  are  at  once  landed  in  a  difficulty,  since  he 
must  in  that  case  have  been  born  in  16 19,  or  about  a  year 
before  his  brother  Daniel,  whereas  Daniel  is  well  known  to 
have  been  his  senior.  We  are  consequently  forced  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  figures  given  in  the  shipping  list  and  the 
record  of  Samuel's  death  cannot  be  relied  upon,  and  that,  at 
the  time  of  his  leaving  England,  he  was  nearer  fifteen  than 
eighteen  years  of  age.  If  it  be  objected  that  fifteen  was  a  very 
early  age  at  which  to  emigrate,  especially  in  those  remote  and 
perilous  times,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  young  Samuel 
did  not  pass  beyond  seas  on  his  own  initiative,  but  as  an  in- 
dentured apprentice  who  had  no  option  save  to  follow  the 
fortunes  of  his  master.  Added  to  this,  there  was  in  his  case  a 
strong  incentive  to  emigration.  His  eldest  brother  Thomas, 
and  his  elder  brother  Daniel,  were  already  in  New  England. 
Thomas,  who  was  also  by  occupation  a  weaver,  went  out  as 
early  as  1633,  in  company  with  his  "cousin"  Nicholas  Jacob 
—  probably  a  mercer  of  Norwich,  where  he  was  admitted 
freeman  June  21,11  James  I,  after  serving  his  apprenticeship 
with  William  Peters  of  that  city.  Of  Jacob's  family  nothing 
certain  is  known,  although  there  is  some  reason  for  believing 
him  to  have  been  a  brother  of  Simon  Jacob  of  Harleston, 
county  Norfolk,  gent.,  whose  will  is  to  be  found  in  the  Pre- 
rogative Court  of  Canterbury.1  One  circumstance,  however, 
connects  him  unquestionably  with  Hingham.  Two  of  his  chil- 
dren were  baptised  there  —  John  in  February,  1630;  Mary 
in  May,  1632.  The  nature  of  the  cousinship  subsisting  be- 
tween him  and  Thomas  Lincoln  has  not  been  developed  and 
is  consequently  altogether  indeterminate;  but  the  reasonable 

1  Register  Dycer^  folio  113. 


6        THE   ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

assumption  is  that  Thomas  Lincoln's  mother  —  Edward  Lin- 
coln's wife  —  was  a  sister  to  Nicholas  Jacob's  father. 

Of  the  baptism  of  Thomas  Lincoln  the  Hingham  register 
contains  no  record  —  for  the  all-sufficient  reason,  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  that  he,  as  his  father's  eldest  son,  was  born  and  bap- 
tised before  the  year  1600,  when  that  register  has  its  present 
beginning.  Neither  his  marriage,  moreover,  nor  the  baptisms 
of  such  children  as  may  have  been  born  to  him  before  he 
left  England,  are  to  be  found  there.  As  an  apprentice  to  the 
weaving  he  probably  removed  from  Hingham,  as  his  younger 
brother  Samuel  is  known  to  have  done,  and  married  in  the 
place  where  he  acquired  and  for  a  time  plied  his  trade. 

The  minister  who  officiated  on  the  occasion  of  Samuel  Lin- 
coln's baptism  is  no  stranger  to  us.  He  is,  in  fact,  none  other 
than  the  Rev.  Robert  Peck,  that  fearless  leader  of  the  ultra- 
puritan  movement  who,  but  a  few  years  later,  defied  the  prelacy 
and  called  down  upon  his  devoted  head  the  wrath  of  Laud  and 
the  entire  Bench  of  Bishops. 

The  story  of  that  stirring  episode  will  bear  repetition  — 
and  the  more  so  since  it  is,  in  a  very  intimate  sense,  the  story 
of  our  boy-pioneer.  It  centred,  ironically  enough,  in  that  em- 
blem of  Christian  unity  and  brotherly  love,  the  communion 
table,  which,  since  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  had  stood 
unassumingly  in  the  body  or  nave  of  the  church,  where  all 
might  approach  it  without  restrictions  other  than  those  im- 
posed by  conscience.  To  the  ritualists,  desirous  of  closer  con- 
formity to  the  ancient  Catholic  usage,  this  was  utter  sacrilege. 
The  Holy  Table,  according  to  their  contention,  should  be 
restored  to  its  original  position  against  the  eastern  wall  of  the 
chancel,  where,  elevated  upon  a  dais  symbolical  of  its  sacred 
character,  it  should  be  railed  off  from  contact  with  the  lay 
herd.  Of  this  view  the  most  ardent  and  bigoted  exponent  was 
perhaps  Laud,  the  whilom  Reading  clothier's  son,  now  Arch- 


THE  EMIGRANT  7 

bishop  of  Canterbury.  By  his  historic  edict  of  1634  he  en- 
joined that  in  every  parish  church  within  his  jurisdiction  the 
Holy  Table  should  be  so  placed  and  segregated.  Actuated  as 
it  notoriously  was  by  religious  intolerance  of  the  most  viru- 
lent type,  the  mandate  fell  upon  the  startled  country  like  a 
spark  on  powder.1 

Foremost  amongst  the  more  strenuous  opponents  of  the 
measure  was  Robert  Peck,  the  obscure  rector  of  Hingham. 
For  thirty  years  he  had  followed  the  ritualistic  tendencies  of 
the  few,  as  opposed  to  the  puritan  sentiments  of  the  many, 
with  watchful  eye  and  growing  alarm.  For  thirty  years  he 
had  ministered  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  his  flock  in  all  scrip- 
tural simplicity,  combating  those  tendencies  with  many  a 
trenchant  argument  embellished,  after  the  manner  of  the 
time,  with  pulpit  Latin.  Now  the  time  for  action  had  come. 
The  episcopal  fiat  had  gone  forth  —  the  proctors  had  done 
their  work.  The  plain  old  communion  table,  the  scene  and 
centre  of  many  a  homely  love-feast,  had  become  a  thing  glo- 
rified, bedizened,  hateful.  In  the  eyes  of  the  simple-minded 
country  parson  the  change  spelt  popery.  He  would  have  none 
of  it.  Summoning  to  his  aid  a  like-minded  band  of  parish- 
ioners, —  the  Gilmans,  the  Hubberds,  the  Lincolns,  all  good 
men  and  true,  —  he  led  them  to  the  desecrated  church.  For 
what  they  were  about  to  do  no  Episcopal  Faculty  was  sought 
or  required.  A  higher  authority  than  that  of  "  papish  "  bishops 
was  theirs.  Stripping  the  altar  of  its  tinsel  decorations,  they 
carried  it  back  to  its  old  familiar  place,  and  then,  armed  with 
axes,  picks,  and  spades,  they  not  only  hacked  the  obnoxious 
"  rayle  of  joyner's  worke  "  into  matchwood,  but,  as  a  more 
emphatic  protest  against  the  Pope  and  all  his  devices,  dug  up 

1  It  will,  of  course,  be  understood  that  the  authors  are  here  expressing  no 
personal  convictions  or  beliefs.  They  are  merely  telling  the  story  of  this  epi- 
sode in  terms  necessary  to  its  narration. 


8        THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

and  lowered  the  floor  of  the  chancel  to  a  depth  of  several 
inches  below  the  level  of  the  nave. 

For  this  high-handed  proceeding  Peck  was  immediately 
cited  by  his  Bishop,  Matthew  Wren  of  Norwich.  Ignoring 
the  citation,  he  speedily  found  himself  deprived  of  his  living. 
Excommunication  followed,  and  Peck,  well-nigh  beggared 
and  wholly  disgraced,  fell  into  place  in  the  forefront  of  that 
numerous  army  of  martyrs,  the  Plundered  Ministers.  In  such 
a  crisis  a  man  of  less  sterling  courage  and  integrity  would 
have  cried,  Peccavi !  and  made  his  peace  with  the  church 
militant  at  any  price.  Peck  did  neither.  Instead,  he  called 
his  people  together,  and  in  the  words  of  Slicer  in  "The  Ordi- 
nary," a  play  then  much  in  vogue,  said,  with  all  the  hope- 
fulness of  despair  :  "  There  is  no  longer  tarrying  here.  Let 's 
swear  fidelity  to  one  another,  and  so  resolve  for  New  Eng- 
land." More  than  half  his  parish  joined  hands  with  him  in 
that  epoch-making  resolve. 

An  amazing  exodus  was  thus  begun, — begun,  moreover,  by 
a  class  who  of  all  men  found  it  hardest  to  grub  up  and  destroy 
the  old  life-roots,  —  men  born  and  bred  on  the  land,  as  their 
ancestors  had  been  for  untold  generations  before  them.  But 
a  time  of  crisis  had  come.  For  them  there  was  no  longer 
tarrying.  By  sale  or  surrender  the  ancestral  acres  were  hur- 
riedly "put  off"  to  the  highest  bidder.  Farm  implements 
and  stock,  household  stuff  and  personal  effects,  all  went  the 
way  of  the  hammer  or  the  Dutch  candle.  All  except  a  feather 
bed  or  two,  the  old  spruce  or  oak  or  cypress-wood  family 
chest,  the  cob-irons,  the  pewter  "  garnish,"  and  the  silver 
spoons  —  priceless  heirlooms,  descended  from  father  to  son 
from  time  immemorial.  These,  together  with  such  other 
necessary  household  utensils  and  personal  gear  as  could  be 
transported  in  safety  and  with  ease,  alone  were  retained.  Thus 
variously  laden,  in  groups  of  twos  and  threes,  in  families 


THE   EMIGRANT  9 

or  long-drawn  procession,  these  daring  adventurers  for  con- 
science' sake  made  their  way  to  some  convenient  seaport  and 
there,  their  passes  secured,  took  shipping  for  the  land  of 
promise.  Hingham  was  left  semi-depopulated.  In  the  Bod- 
leian Library  at  Oxford  may  be  seen  a  petition,  signed  by  the 
few  substantial  inhabitants  who  remained,  setting  forth  in 
pathetic  terms  the  sore  straits  to  which  the  community  was 
reduced  by  the  recent  exodus. 

It  was  infefi  atmosphere  inspired  by  such  a  man  as  this  — a 
man  at  that  time  at  least  possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  all 
the  courage  of  his  simple  but  devout  convictions  —  that  young 
Samuel  Lincoln  passed  the  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  his 
life  before  he  entered  upon  his  apprenticeship  to  the  Norwich 
weaver.  The  effect  upon  his  character  of  Peck's  teachings  and 
example  must  have  been  marked  and  indelible,  and  in  it 
we  may  perhaps  trace  the  inception  of  those  greater  qualities 
which,  six  generations  later,  were  to  rivet  the  gaze  of  an 
astonished  and  admiring  world  upon  his  lineal  descendant, 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

Although  the  Lincolns  had  been  resident  in  Norfolk  for 
very  many  generations  before  Samuel  of  Hingham  first  saw 
the  light  of  day,  the  records  they  have  left  upon  the  annals 
of  their  times  are  singularly  few.  In  the  last  year  of  Queen 
Mary's  reign  Norwich  saw  three  brothers  Lincoln,  foolishly 
emulous  of  the  earlier  example  of  the  ill-starred  brothers  Kett, 
hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered  for  endeavouring  to  stir  up  insur- 
rection. Caistor-next-the-Sea  had  for  rector  in  the  year  1537 
a  certain  Nicholas  Lincoln  who,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
parsons  were  notorious  poachers  in  those  days,  must  not  be 
confounded  with  that  Nicholas  Lincoln  of  the  adjoining  par- 
ish of  Rollesby,  who  at  a  Court  Leet  holden  for  the  Manor  of 
Padham  Hall  in  Ormesby  on  Thursday  after  the  Annunciation, 
in  the  year  of  grace  1 507,  was  amerced  in  the  sum  of  three- 


io      THE   ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

pence  on  the  score  of  his  being  "  a  comon  fysher  with  pyk- 
hoks"  in  the  preserved  waters  of  that  Manor.  Another  cleri- 
cal representative  of  the  family,  one  "  Sir  "  John  Lincoln, — 
for  parsons  were  commonly  styled  "  Sir  "  in  those  days,  —  in 
i  387  came  into  the  handsome  legacy  of  one  hundred  shillings 
under  the  will  of  Sir  John  Howard,  as  an  incentive  to  pray  for 
the  repose  of  the  donor's  soul.  This  "Sir"  John  Lincoln  was 
rector  of  Weeting.  In  1  298  Thomas  deLingcole  '  gave  to  the 
high  altar  of  the  church  of  St.  Mary  Coslanyin  Norwich,  "a 
taper  of  wax,  a  lamp,  and  the  rent  of  Colegate,"  of  which  he 
was  doubtless  farmer.  The  mural  tablet  commemorating  this 
benefaction  has  only  recently  been  unearthed  and  is  here  repro- 
duced. It  is  believed  to  be  the  most  ancient  in  that  ancient 
cathedral  city.  Eight  years  before  it  was  first  set  up,  Adam,  son 
of  William  de  Lincoln  of  Great  Yarmouth,  accompanied  by 
Johan  his  wife,  made  a  journey  to  London,  and  there,  in  the 
Court  of  the  Lord  King  at  Westminster,  on  the  morrow  of  the 
Feast  of  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Mary,  received  of  Wal- 
ter de  Wyndsor  a  grant  by  Fine  of  the  Manor  of  Codesmore 
in  Rutlandshire,  and  of  certain  messuages,  lands,  and  other  tene- 
ments in  East  Ham  and  West  Ham,  county  Essex.  He  was  the 
progenitor  of  the  Essex  Lincolns,  as  he  in  all  likelihood  was 
of  the  Norfolk  Lincolns  with  whom  we  are  here  concerned. 
Beyond  this  point  the  records  do  not  carry  us.  The  pioneer  of 
the  Norfolk  Lincolns,  whether  Adam  of  Great  Yarmouth  or 
another,  doubtless  hailed  from  the  city  or  shire  of  that  name; 
but  the  exact  time  when  he  made  his  way  across  the  Fenlands 
and  the  Wash,  and  acquired  "  a  local  habitation  '  in  the 
sturdier  county  by  the  northern  sea,  is  lost  in  the  mists  of  an- 
tiquity. 

Owing  to  a  fortunate  circumstance  presently  to  be  related, 

1  The  name  Lincoln  is  not  infrequently  so  spelled,  with  slight  variations,  as 
late  as  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. 


^ 


THE   EMIGRANT  n 

those  mists  no  longer,  as  formerly,  drift  down  the  ages  and  wrap 
in  impenetrable  obscurity  the  immediate  ancestry  of  Samuel 
Lincoln,  emigrant  ancestor  of  our  great  President.  Concern- 
ing his  mother,  it  is  true,  there  is  still  uncertainty.  Around  her 
personality  and  her  name  the  mists  close  in  again,  denying  us 
light  where  we  most  desire  to  see  clearly.  For  this  the  hand 
that  traced  the  record  of  Samuel's  baptism,  the  hand  of  Robert 
Peck,  is  mainly  responsible.  In  that  record,  as  in  all  others  of 
a  like  nature  relating  to  the  family,  it  has  uniformly  consigned 
the  mother  to  oblivion.  Yet  the  omission  of  her  name  from 
the  yellow  pages  of  the  parish  register  is  less  remarkable  than 
at  first  sight  appears.  With  the  parsons  of  those  days  maternity 
—  unless,  indeed,  it  chanced  to  be  of  the  baser  sort,  in  which 
case  the  whole  sad  story  of  man's  perfidy  and  woman's  wrongs 
was  set  out  with  great  minuteness  and  dubious  taste  —  counted 
for  little.  Paternity  was  everything;  and  hence  it  comes  about 
that  the  one  fact  clearly  recorded  of  our  boy-emigrant,  in  the 
pages  of  the  Hingham  register,  is  that  he  was  the  son  of 
Edward  Lincoln.  A  comparison  of  entries  and  dates  further 
shows  him  to  have  been  his  father's  seventh  child  and  sixth 
and  youngest  son. 

So  much  is  plainly  written  in  the  book  for  all  to  read.  But 
beyond  this  it  does  not  go,  for  the  fatal  reason  that  the  book 
is  defective.  A  well-preserved  register  would  have  introduced 
us  in  all  probability  to  the  year  1558  and  the  emigrant's  grand- 
father; or,  bridging  another  generation  of  those  who  so  long 
since  joined  the  majority,  have  ushered  us  into  the  year  1  538  J 
and  the  presence  of  his  great-grandfather.  This  book  unhap- 
pily does  neither  the  one  thing  nor  the  other.   Through  that 

1  The  year  in  which  Parish  Registers  were  first  ordered  to  be  kept  in  Eng- 
land by  Cromwell,  Vicar-General  of  Henry  VIII.  Only  eight  registers  are 
known  to  exist  before  that  time,  and  only  about  eight  hundred  of  1538  are  pre- 
served. In  1558,  under  an  order  from  the  young  Queen,  then  just  come  to  the 
throne,  the  practice  became  general  and  most  of  the  old  registers  date  thence. 


12      THE   ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

criminal  carelessness  which,  in  England,  has  marked  the  de- 
struction of  so  many  priceless  records  of  this  description,  its 
earlier  portion  is  missing — wantonly  torn  away  from  the  body 
of  the  book  and  irrevocably  lost ;  while  the  portion  that  hap- 
pily survives  begins  to  unfold  its  triple  tale  of  marriage,  chris- 
tening, and  death,  in  the  most  exasperatingly  inconsequent 
manner,  with  the  year  of  grace  1600  —  thus  leaving  us,  so  far  at 
least  as  this  source  of  information  is  concerned,  in  bewildered 
uncertainty  as  to  how  many  or  what  Hingham  Lincolns  lived 
and  died  before  that  comparatively  modern  date.  It  tells  us  the 
name  of  Samuel's  father;  but  when  the  eager  interrogator  of 
the  past  asks  who  were  his  forebears,  it  remains  as  silent  as  the 
grave  in  which  they  lie. 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  case,  as  regards  the  immediate  an- 
cestry of  Samuel,  and  the  entire  English  ancestry  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  until  as  recently  as  the  year  1906.  Previous  to  that 
time  many  attempts  had  been  made  to  trace  this  descent,  and 
in  every  instance  the  searcher,  on  reaching  a  certain  well-de- 
fined point  in  his  investigations,  found  himself  iace  to  face 
with  a  blank  wall  which  he  could  neither  pierce  nor  scale. 
Of  that  wall  the  foundation  was  the  register  of  Hingham, 
with  its  utterly  inconsequent  beginning.  Upon  this  were 
piled,  in  successive  formidable  courses,  the  ancient  wills  for 
the  county  of  Norfolk,  stored  at  Norwich,  the  vast  accumu- 
lation of  testamentary  records  garnered  into  the  strong-rooms 
of  Somerset  House,  and  the  inexhaustible  muniments  of  the 
Public  Record  Office.  Scan  these  as  he  would,  the  keenest 
searcher  could  find  in  them  no  substitute  for  the  lost  portion 
of  the  Hingham  register,  no  solution  of  the  difficulty  created 
by  that  loss,  no  father — to  narrow  the  issue  down  to  its  finest 
point  —  for  Edward  Lincoln,  father  of  the  boy  who  crossed 
the  Atlantic  in  1637. 


CHAPTER  II 

A   FAMILY   QUARREL  AND   ITS 
CONSEQUENCES 

THE  successes  achieved  by  the  genealogist,  the  anti- 
quary, and  the  archaeologist,  are  not  infrequently  won 
from  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  the  ages  by  accident 
rather  than  by  reasoned  design  or  patient  endeavour,  and  often, 
when  he  is  on  the  verge  of  despair,  the  turn  of  a  leaf,  the  in- 
voluntary glance  of  an  eye,  or  some  equally  trivial  circumstance 
will  put  him,  in  one  swift  moment  replete  with  triumph,  in 
full  possession  of  that  which  he  has  vainly  sought  through  weary 
years.  He  enjoys  manorial  rights  over  the  foreshore  of  time, 
but  it  is  the  casual  wave,  as  often  as  deliberate  incursions  into 
the  deep,  that  lays  the  treasure  at  his  feet. 

It  was  such  an  accident  as  this  that  marked  as  a  red-letter 
day  in  Lincoln  family  history  a  certain  date  late  in  the  year  1906. 
On  that  day  the  writers  of  this  narrative,  after  a  prolonged 
period  of  unremitting  effort  in  the  course  of  which  no  genea- 
logical stone,  to  the  best  of  their  knowledge  and  belief,  had 
been  left  unturned,  arrived  at  a  point  in  their  researches  where, 
as  it  seemed,  all  hope  of  solving  the  apparently  inscrutable 
problem  of  Samuel  Lincoln's  ancestry  must  be  forever  aban- 
doned. Then,  in  the  space  of  a  moment,  the  unexpected  hap- 
pened. The  reference  or  press-mark  to  a  certain  ancient  suit 
in  Chancery  —  a  suit  then  under  re-investigation  in  this  seem- 
ingly hopeless  connection  —  was  found  to  have  been  wrongly 
noted  by  the  searcher  to  whom  the  listing  had  been  entrusted. 
In  order  to  correct  the  inaccuracy  a  volume  of  the  Calendar 
of  the  Proceedings  in  Chancery  was  taken  down  from  one  of 


i4      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

the  shelves  of  the  Public  Record  Office  and  casually  opened 
—  when  there,  under  the  searcher's  very  eye,  lay  the  laconic 
record  of  another  suit,  by  some  malign  mischance  previously 
overlooked,  which  supplied  the  long-sought  key  to  the  riddle. 
The  Chancery  suit1  so  unexpectedly  brought  to  light  con- 
stitutes one  of  those  rare  "finds"  which  persistently  haunt  the 
genealogist's  dreams,  but  seldom  bless  his  waking  hours.  Tak- 
ing up  the  thread  of  Samuel  Lincoln's  descent  as  abruptly  as 
the  defective  Hingham  register  lays  it  down,  it  tells  us  that 
his  father,  Edward,  was  eldest  son  and  heir  of  Richard,  who 
in  turn  was  eldest  son  and  heir  of  Robert  Lincoln.  Within 
the  compass  of  a  few  square  inches  of  discoloured  parchment 
it  gives  us,  when  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  baptism  of 
Samuel,  a  skeleton  pedigree  of  four  generations,  thus:  — 

Robert  Lincoln, 
eldest  son  and  heir 


Richard  Lincoln, 
eldest  son  and  heir 


Edward   Lincoln, 
eldest  son  and  heir 


Samuel  Lincoln 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  suit  is  a  peculiar  one,  and  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  case  a  variety  of  other  facts  are  brought  to  light 
in  the  course  of  the  pleadings,  each  of  which,  when  we  come 
to  examine  it  closely,  is  replete  with  special  interest.   Thus  the 

1  Chancery  Proceedings,  Series  II,  317  :  45  — Anne  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln  v. 
Edward  Lincoln. 


•   ,.. 


,    -  » ,,  /J         1  •  »w     . 


.«    /  "       /     /    /  •  •  .      .  ■  '    i  *   '     «--  7 


^^HH^^*H»^ 


-  V  -   - 


I)'.     • 


**» 


•  "^V,-.,  /,,,,'/,-  yV,  A<m/c&t<&  PJborx^//,,,/., 


A   FAMILY  QUARREL  i5 

point  in  dispute  is  the  possession  of  a  certain  parcel  of  copyhold 
land,  lying  in  two  several  pieces —  one  of  them  "  builded  vppon 
with  a  litle  cottage  of  theyerely  valewe  of  fortie  shillings"  — 
in  the  parishes  of  Swanton  Morley  and  Great  Witchingham, 
and  containing  together  a  matter  of  six  acres.  This  land 
is  claimed  by  Anne  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln,  "beinge  infants 
within  the  age  of  one  and  twentie  yeres,"  through  their 
guardian,  John  Bird,  gent.  It  had  belonged  to  their  father, 
Richard  Lincoln,  who,  having  acquired  it  by  purchase  in 
his  lifetime,  had  by  his  last  will  and  testament  devised  it  to 
them.  They  claim  it  as  against  Edward  Lincoln,  defendant  in 
the  action,  who  not  only  "doth  thretten  ymediately  to  enter 
into  the  premisses  and  cleerly  to  ouste  and  dispossesse  them 
thereof,"  but,  still  worse,  "hath  suppressed  and  deteyned  the 
said  will,  and  refuseth  to  prove  the  same."  Their  Bill  of  Com- 
plaint is  sworn  on  the  i  ith  of  May,  1621,  and  in  it  they  pray, 
in  the  quaint  phraseology  usual  in  such  petitions,  that  "his 
majesties  gratious  writt  of  subpoena  be  yssued  against  the  said 
Edward,  comanding  him  at  a  certeyne  day  and  vnder  a  cer- 
teyne  payne  personally  to  appeare  before  the  Cort  of  Chaun- 
cery,  then  and  there  to  answere"  for  the  wrong  he  is  alleged 
to  have  put  upon  them.  In  accordance  with  this  prayer  a  writ 
—  directed,  singularly  enough,  to  Robert  Peck,  clerk,  amongst 
other  local  Justices  of  the  Peace  —  was  issued  on  the  14th  of 
the  same  month. 

In  these  circumstances  Edward  Lincoln  had  no  option  but 
to  set  up  his  defence.  This  he  proceeded  to  do  without  loss 
of  time.  His  answer  to  the  charges  levelled  at  him  is  dated  the 
2d  of  June,  and  in  it  he  unfolds  a  tale  which  at  once  lifts  the 
case  into  the  realm  of  the  romantic. 

His  late  father,  Richard  Lincoln,  was  in  his  lifetime  pos- 
sessed of  a  goodly  estate  in  Hingham,  comprising,  apart  from 
copyhold  possessions,  a  house  and  thirty-five  acres  of  freehold 


16      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

meadow  and  pasture  worth  some  ^20  a  year  "to  be  letten"; 
or,  as  the  daughters  assert,  ^30.  To  this  estate  his  father  had 
succeeded  on  the  death  of  his  father,  Robert  Lincoln,  whose 
birthright  it  had  also  been.  But  Richard  Lincoln,  after  com- 
ing into  the  property,  quickly  discovered  other  and  more 
absorbing  interests  in  life.  In  the  adjoining  parish  of  Car- 
brooke,  at  the  old  Manor  House  there,  lived  a  young  and 
beautiful  girl,  Elizabeth  Remching  by  name,  eldest  daughter 
of  Richard  Remching,  gentleman,  and  Elizabeth  his  wife. 
This  girl  and  Richard  Lincoln  were  of  about  the  same  age, 
while  in  social  position  they  were  on  a  strict  equality.  Her 
Richard  Lincoln  wooed,  and  in  due  course  wedded.1  But  first 
he  proceeded  to  deal  with  the  ancestral  lands  —  or,  rather, 
with  such  portion  of  them  as  was  of  the  nature  of  freehold — 
with  an  eye  to  the  future.  Calling  in  the  necessary  legal  aid,  he 
tied  up  those  lands  to  the  use  of  himself  and  his  wife  that  was 
to  be,  for  the  term  of  their  lives  and  of  the  life  of  the  longer 
liver  of  them,  with  remainder  after  their  decease  to  the  heir 
of  their  bodies.  Defendant,  only  surviving  child  of  the  mar- 
riage,2 is  that  heir,  and  as  such  he  claims  the  property  under 
the  marriage  settlement — a  settlement  which  no  act  of  his 
father  could  ever  set  aside  or  annul  without  his,  the  next  heir's, 
express  consent. 

So  much  for  his  rights  in  general.  There  still  remain  to  be 
dealt  with,  first,  the  six  acres  specially  claimed  by  the  two 
infants-at-law,  Anne  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln,  which,  having 

1  Strictly  speaking,  Edward  Lincoln's  answer  makes  his  mother  the  daughter 
of  Edward  Remching,  thus  perpetrating  a  chronological  absurdity  that  is  fully 
disproved  by  the  Remching  pedigree  appended  to  this  work.  The  substitution 
of  Edward  for  Richard  was  certainly  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  clerk  who 
drew  the  pleadings,  since  it  can  hardly  be  credited  that  a  man  so  well  posted 
in  his  own  lineage  as  Edward  Lincoln  shows  himself  to  be,  could  have  been 
ignorant  of  the  name  of  his  maternal  grandfather. 

2  Another  child,  a  son  baptised  Henry,  was  born  in  1574.  He  was  probably 
Edward's  senior,  but  died  in  infancy. 


A  FAMILY  QUARREL  17 

been  purchased  by  Richard  Lincoln  in  his  lifetime,  do  not 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  marriage  settlement ;  and,  sec- 
ond, the  scandalous  aspersion  cast  upon  him,  of  having  sup- 
pressed his  father's  will.  To  this  task  he  next  addresses  him- 
self, and  in  order  to  show  how  groundless  is  their  claim  to 
the  land,  how  utterly  mendacious  and  devoid  of  truth  their 
allegation  concerning  the  will,  he  takes  the  Court  into  his 
confidence  and  proceeds  to  disclose  some  highly  interesting 
particulars  of  family  history. 

The  settlement  in  question  was  made  as  long  ago  as  the 
sixteenth  year  of  the  sovereign  lady  Elizabeth,  1574,  while 
the  action  he  is  rebutting  falls  in  the  year  1621.  Much  had 
happened  in  the  interval.  In  the  first  place  Elizabeth  (Rem- 
ching)  Lincoln,  his  mother,  had  died,  leaving  him,  an  infant 
offender  years,  too  young  to  mourn  her  loss.  Then  his  father 
married  again,  and  a  second  son,  Richard,  came  on  the  scene, 
grew  to  manhood,  and  espoused  a  daughter  of  the  Fulshams 
—  on  which  occasion  his  father,  with  Edward's  consent,  set- 
tled upon  him  a  considerable  portion  of  his  estate.  Meantime 
another  affliction  had  fallen.  The  second  wife — young  Rich- 
ard's mother  —  also  died.  She  was  quickly  succeeded  by  a 
third,  a  widow,  Margery  Dunham  by  name,  who  by  some 
strange  fatality  speedily  followed  her  predecessors.  It  was  of 
her  that  her  husband  purchased  part  of  the  land  afterwards 
in  question.  Her  place  did  not  long  remain  vacant,  for  Rich- 
ard Lincoln,  senior,  had  now  acquired  the  marrying  habit. 
Casting  about  him  for  a  fresh  companion  in  his  solitude, 
he  fixed  his  affections,  unhappily  for  the  family  peace  and 
for  young  Edward  Lincoln's  future  prospects,  upon  another 
widow,  one  Anne  Small  or  Smale,  a  woman  apparently  several 
years  his  junior.  With  this  marriage  the  situation,  already 
delicate,  speedily  became  complicated. 

Anne  Small's  maiden  name  was  Bird,  daughter  of 


18      THE   ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

Bird  of  Great  Witchingham.  Of  her  family  we  know  little, 
save  that  they  ranked  as  gentry.1  Of  her  first  husband  we 
know  nothing,  except  that  he  considerately  died  in  time  to 
provide  her  with  an  eminently  eligible  second  and  a  fresh 
field  for  the  exercise  of  talents  with  which  nature  had  liberally, 
although  perhaps  somewhat  unwisely,  endowed  her.  She  had 
not  long  been  established  in  her  new  home  ere  trouble  began. 

As  so  often  happens  in  such  cases,  the  dissension  had  its 
origin  in  additions  to  the  family  circle.  These  were  not  long 
in  coming.  Anne,  the  first  child  of  the  fourth  marriage,  was 
baptised  in  May,  1599;  Elizabeth,  the  second  child,  in  No- 
vember, 1602 ;  and  Henry,  the  third  and  last,  in  June,  1605.2 
In  thirty-two  years  Richard  Lincoln  led  four  brides  to  the 
altar,  followed  three  wives  to  the  grave,  and  welcomed  six,  if 
not  more,  children  to  his  heart  and  home.  Five  of  those  chil- 
dren to  our  certain  knowledge  survived,  and  it  was  the  unen- 
viable mission  of  Anne  Small,  the  fourth  and  last  wife,  to  sow 
dissension  amongst  them  and  to  alienate  the  father's  affections 
and  property  from  Edward,  his  eldest  son  and  heir. 

The  estrangement  had  its  inception,  to  all  appearances,  in 
the  father's  fourth  marriage ;  it  spread  itself  over  a  consid- 
erable period  of  time,  reaching  its  culmination  in  his  tes- 
tamentary dispositions,  its  logical  sequence  in  the  litigation 
which  followed  his  decease.  The  beginning  of  the  year  16 16, 
new  style,  saw  it  at  its  height.  By  this  time  Richard  Lincoln 
—  born,  in  all  likelihood,  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  Kett's  re- 
bellion in  1549  —  began  to  feel  the  weight  of  years.  Whether 
conscious  of  it  or  not,  he  fell  far  more  under  the  influence  of 
his  last  wife.  For  a  matter  of  nearly  two  decades  he  had  been 
more  or  less  under  her  thumb,  and  her  machinations  were 

1  Bird  of  Witchingham  bore  :  Argent,  a  cross  patonc'e  between  four  martlets 
gules,  a  canton  azure ;  and  for  crest :  Out  of  a  coronet  a  demi-grey hound  salient 
proper. 

3  Registers  of  Swanton  Morley.    See  Appendix. 


A   FAMILY  QUARREL  19 

now  to  produce  the  fruit  she  desired  to  pluck  for  herself  and 
her  children  at  the  expense  of  Edward  Lincoln,  her  stepson 
thrice  removed.  On  the  3d  of  January,  16 16,  Richard  Lin- 
coln sat  himself  down  in  his  house  at  Swanton  Morley  and 
"  made  and  declared  "  his  last  will  and  testament,  being  then, 
"  praysed  be  Almightie  God,  of  goode  mynde  and  memorie." 
Alas !  the  pious  asseveration.  Neither  in  that  will,  nor  in  the 
codicil  which  he  appended  to  it  on  the  2d  of  February,  some 
three  years  later,  did  he  once  remember  his  eldest  son  to  the 
extent  of  a  shilling  piece. 

This  lapse  of  memory  is  the  more  remarkable,  not  to  say 
significant,  in  view  of  what  he  does  call  to  remembrance  in 
the  writing  of  this  most  human  document.1  While  the  heir 
of  his  body  is  ignored,  that  body  itself  is  reverently  consigned 
to  the  earth,  to  be  buried  "  in  the  church  of  Hingham,  in 
the  midle  Alley  there."  2  A  legacy  of  ten  shillings  is  left  to 
the  church  for  his  interment  in  that  honourable  place.  This 
was  for  the  "  breaking  of  the  ground,"  and  went  to  the  rec- 
tor. The  poor  of  Hingham,  the  parish  of  himself  and  his 
fathers,  receive  twenty  shillings;  the  poor  of  Swanton  Mor- 
ley, where  he  was  merely  a  sojourner,  one  half  that  amount; 
the  poor  of  Great  Witchingham,  his  wife's  parish,  six  and 
eightpence.  To  Anne,  his  wife,  —  the  watchful  monitor  at 
his  elbow,  —  are  devised  all  his  freehold  houses  and  lands 
theretofore  undealt  with  —  not  in  perpetuity,  it  is  true,  nor 
yet  for  the  term  of  her  life,  but  for  such  time  as  Henry,  his 
youngest  son,  and  hers,  remains  in  his  nonage.  He  was  then 
but  ten  years  old.  In  return  for  this  substantial  provision  she 
is  required  to  "  meynetaine  and  bringe  him  vpp  vnto  littera- 

1  Consistory  Court  of  Norwich,  Register  1620,  folio  26. 

2  Although  the  Hingham  register  does  not  show  that  the  burial  actually 
took  place  in  the  church,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  his  wishes  were 
not  faithfully  carried  out. 


20      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

ture  and  good  educacon,"  as  befits  the  son  of  a  country  gentle- 
man who  is  content,  with  the  grave  in  view,  to  write  himself 
down  plain  yeoman.  If,  however,  she  happen  to  "  marrie 
and  take  another  husband,"  she  is  to  be  "  discharged  of  the 
custodie  "  of  young  Henry,  and  is  to  pay  into  the  hands  of 
testator's  loving  friend,  John  Bird,  gent.,  —  her  own  brother, 

—  the  sum  of  twenty  marks  yearly  for  the  lad's  maintenance, 
as  a  mild  penalty  upon  such  mature  waywardness.  This,  be 
it  observed,  whilst  retaining  the  lands.  The  two  daughters, 
Anne  and  Elizabeth,  then  in  their  seventeenth  and  fourteenth 
years  respectively,  get  each  fourscore  pounds  at  full  age  or 
marriage,  "which  shall  first  happen."  In  addition  to  this 
handsome  portion,  they  are  to  enjoy  absolutely  the  four  acres 
of  copyhold  land  in  Swanton  Morley  lately  purchased  of  one 
Robert  Skarff,  as  well  as  the  two  acres  in  Great  Witchingham 
which  their  father  had  of  Margery  Dunham,  "sometime" 
his  wife.  This  is  the  land  claimed  by  the  daughters,  as 
against  Edward  Lincoln  —  who  is  of  course  their  half-brother 

—  in  1 62 1.  Edward  and  Henry  Bird,  his  wife's  brothers, 
and  Richard  Small,  her  son,  come  in  for  affectionate  remem- 
brance; whilst  John  Bird,  another  of  her  brothers,  is  ap- 
pointed to  the  important  post  of  supervisor  under  the  will. 
The  entire  residue  of  his  estate  —  a  very  considerable  one, 
materially  augmented,  no  doubt,  by  his  repeated  matrimonial 
ventures  —  goes  to  Anne,  his  wife,  who  takes  good  care  to 
see  that  she  is  named  sole  executrix.  As  Edward  Lincoln 
himself  so  bitterly  expresses  it,  in  his  answer  to  the  charges 
made  against  him  by  his  two  half-sisters,  his  father  "  was 
much  laboured  by  his  latter  wife  to  make  a  will  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  hir  and  hir  children,"  who  were  in  consequence 
"preferred  with  liberall  and  lardge  porcons,"  whilst  he,  the 
object  of  her  cordial  detestation,  was  "  disinherited  by  her 
meanes  and  procurement." 


A  FAMILY   QUARREL  21 

In  effect  his  situation  was  rather  less  deplorable  than  he 
here  represents  it  to  be.  Of  his  father's  personal  estate,  it  is 
true,  he  got  nothing, — every  stiver  of  it,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  minor  legacies  in  which  he  did  not  share,  going  to 
the  fourth  wife  and  her  children.  But  in  respect  of  his 
father's  real  estate  he  fared  rather  better,  as  we  shall  presently 
see. 

The  will  made  by  Richard  Lincoln  on  the  3d  of  January, 
1 61 6,  —  the  original  is  still  preserved  in  the  Crown  Registry 
at  Norwich, — consists  of  four  sheets  of  paper,  each  neatly 
sealed  at  the  bottom  with  a  little  seal  of  red  wax,1  bearing  the 
device  of  a  hound ;  and  although  it  is  neither  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, nor  yet  signed  otherwise  than  with  his  mark,  these 
circumstances  must  not  be  taken  as  going  to  prove  that  he  was 
unable  to  write,  or  that  the  will  was  made  when  he  lay  in  extre- 
mis. The  cross  used  in  lieu  of  signature,  or  when  a  signatory 
was  unable  to  write,  at  that  time  still  retained  much  of  its 
original  affirmatory  and  sacred  significance,  and  was  conse- 
quently employed  by  many  persons  of  sufficient  literary  attain- 
ments to  subscribe  their  names  did  they  choose  to  do  so. 
Richard  Lincoln,  although  he  appended  only  his  "mark"  to 
the  will,  may  therefore  have  been  well  able  to  write.  About 
his  state  of  health  at  the  time,  there  is  less  uncertainty.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  he  was  not  "sick  in  body,"  and  this  being  so, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  will  is  the  utterance  of  a  man  who  has 
the  fear  of  his  wife  rather  than  the  fear  of  death  before  his 
eyes  —  that  it  is,  in  short,  a  concession  to  petticoat  rule,  a  bid 
for  domestic  peace.  Probably  it  did  not  fall  altogether  short 
of  the  desired  effect,  since  he  survived  it  by  nearly  five  years. 

It  was  in  December,  1620,  that  the  end  came.  Returning 
one  day  from  his  customary  round  in  the  fields  to  his  home 

1  Here  reproduced,  and  apparently  that  of  his  wife's  family,  Bird  of  Witch- 
ingham.  See  page  60. 


22      THE  ANCESTRY  OF  LINCOLN 

at  S wanton  Morley,  he  fell  to  the  ground  lifeless,  "surprised 
by  sudden  death,"  as  his  daughters  so  graphically  express  it,  in 
the  midst  of  a  vigorous  old  age.  On  the  23d  of  that  month  his 
mortal  remains  were  laid  to  rest,  as  we  may  fairly  assume,  in 
the  spot  he  had  chosen  for  their  interment,  the  middle  aisle  of 
Hingham  church.  With  all  decent  haste  his  widow  proceeded 
to  deal  with  the  will,  proving  it  in  the  Consistory  Court  of 
the  Bishop  of  Norwich  on  the  24th  day  of  February,  1621. 
On  the  1 1  th  of  May  following,  well  within  three  months  after 
the  will  had  been  so  carried  to  probate  by  their  own  mother, 
Anne  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln  deliberately  swore  that  Edward 
Lincoln,  their  half-brother,  had  suppressed  it! 

By  what  means  they  were  induced  to  put  forward  a  state- 
ment so  utterly  at  variance  with  the  facts  of  the  case — for 
Edward  Lincoln,  so  far  from  having  suppressed  the  will,  knew 
nothing  whatever  about  it  except  what  rumour  told  him  —  or 
to  take  the  far  more  serious  step  of  putting  it  forward  on  oath, 
it  is  not  easy  to  conceive.  In  common  fairness  to  them,  and 
in  view  of  their  youth,  we  must  give  them  credit  for  sincerity 
and  a  belief  that  what  they  alleged  to  be  true  was  true  in  sub- 
stance and  in  fact;  and  once  this  point  is  conceded,  as  it  must 
be  by  every  unbiassed  student  of  the  case,  there  remains  only 
one  reasonable  explanation  of  their  open  and  pronounced  hos- 
tility to  their  half-brother,  as  of  the  false  charges  they  formu- 
lated against  him.  They  had  been  deceived  by  and  were  the 
unconscious  tools  of  their  mother,  who,  together  with  their 
uncle  and  guardian,  John  Bird,  sought,  by  playing  upon  their 
inexperience,  their  self-interest,  and  their  youthful  credulity, 
to  repair  the  one  fatal  omission  of  which  their  father  had 
been  —  perhaps  intentionally  —  guilty  between  the  making  of 
the  will  and  his  decease. 

That  omission,  unfortunately  for  the  plaintiffs  in  our  Chan- 
cery suit,  had  to  do  with  the  land  devised  by  the  father  to  the 


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A  FAMILY  QUARREL  2<$ 

two  girls  —  or,  to  be  more  exact,  with  four  acres  of  it  only, 
the  other  two  acres  and  the  cottage  having  been  conveyed  to 
Edward,  together  with  £20  in  hand,  long  before  the  making 
of  the  will,  as  a  quid  pro  quo  for  his  interest  in  certain  other 
land  which  the  father  wished  to  settle  upon  his  second  son, 
Richard.  This  conveyance  the  father  had  evidently  forgotten 
when  making  his  will ;  while,  as  for  the  four  acres  referred 
to  above,  that  land  was  copyhold,  holden  of  a  certain  Manor, 
and  as  such  could  change  hands  only  in  accordance  with  an 
ancient  custom,  well  recognised  in  law,  known  as  "surrender 
to  uses."  To  make  his  will  valid,  therefore,  as  regards  the 
devise  of  this  four  acres  to  his  daughters  Anne  and  Elizabeth, 
"custom"  demanded  that  old  Richard  Lincoln  should  go  into 
the  Manor  Court  and  there,  with  the  consent  and  co-operation 
of  Edward  Lincoln,  his  eldest  son  and  heir-at-law,  formally 
"surrender"  the  land  to  the  use  or  uses  specified  and  declared 
in  that  will.  This  he  omitted  to  do,  with  the  result  that  when 
he  died  the  land  passed  by  right  of  inheritance  to  Edward, 
his  next  heir,  while  Anne  and  Elizabeth,  his  daughters  by  the 
grasping  fourth  wife,  were  left  with  only  their  fourscore  pounds 
apiece  to  console  them. 

Such  were  the  highly  complicated,  not  to  say  tragic,  cir- 
cumstances in  which  this  remarkable  action  at  law,  this  un- 
blushing attempt  to  bluff  Edward  Lincoln  out  of  his  heredi- 
tary rights,  was  launched  by  his  stepmother  and  half-sisters. 
Whether  it  ever  came  to  a  hearing,  or  what  was  the  upshot  of 
it  if  it  did  come,  we  cannot  learn  with  certainty,  since  no 
Order  or  Decree  in  Chancery,  relating  to  the  suit,  can  be 
discovered.  But  on  the  face  of  it  the  appearances  are  all  in 
favour  of  the  defendant;  and  provided  he  was  in  a  position, 
as  he  doubtless  was,  to  back  up  his  assertions  with  sound 
documentary  evidence,  there  can  be  little  question  as  to  how 
the  action  eventuated.   The  land  remained  with  him. 


24      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

The  value  of  the  suit  to  us,  apart  from  the  remarkable  series 
of  family  episodes  it  so  graphically  suggests,  lies  in  the  fact  that 
it  supplies  a  key  by  which  many  another  document,  before 
wholly  unintelligible,  isolated,  or  apparently  irrelevant  to  the 
line  of  descent  under  investigation,  may  be  correctly  placed 
and  logically  interpreted.  The  will  of  Richard  Lincoln  is  a 
case  strikingly  in  point.  Although  the  present  writers  had 
had  that  will  in  their  possession  for  a  period  of  several  years 
before  the  discovery  of  the  Chancery  suit,  the  omission  from 
its  pages  of  any  allusion  to  the  testator's  son,  Edward  Lincoln, 
rendered  it  absolutely  valueless  for  the  purposes  of  this  en- 
quiry. Failing  as  it  did  to  supply  the  long-sought  clue  to 
Edward's  parentage,  it  ranked  merely  as  an  isolated  item  of 
Lincoln  genealogy  —  oneamongst  many  hundreds — nothing 
more.  However  much  Anne  Lincoln  deserves  our  censure  for 
hectoring  her  husband  into  making  that  will,  we  forgive  her, 
most  readily  and  heartily,  when,  we  consider  that  the  suit  was 
brought  at  her  instigation.  With  its  discovery  the  day  dawns, 
and  in  its  light  the  meaningless  will  becomes  a  piece  of  living 
history. 


CHAPTER  III 

FIVE  GENERATIONS    OF  A  NORFOLK 

HOUSE 

REVERTING  to  the  division  of  Richard  Lincoln's 
real  estate,  it  is  far  from  easy,  in  the  absence  of 
_  those  most  informing  land-records  the  Manor  Rolls,1 
and  in  face  of  the  conflicting  statements  put  forward  by  the 
parties  to  the  Chancery  suit,  to  determine  with  any  degree  of 
precision  either  how  much  he  possessed  or  how  much  of  what 
he  did  possess  went  to  each  of  his  sons. 

According  to  the  story  told  by  Anne  and  Elizabeth  Lin- 
coln, their  half-brother  Edward  not  only  had  "all  or  the 
greater  part"  of  the  landed  property,  but  was  "further  pre- 
ferred and  helped  with  divers  guifts  and  benefitts  of  very  great 
valewe  and  worthe."  On  the  face  of  it  this  statement  of  the 
case  savours  strongly  of  exaggeration;  and  Edward  himself, 
whilst  admitting  his  reversionary  interest  in  the  thirty-five  acres 
of  freehold  tied  up  under  the  marriage  settlement,  expressly 
declares  that  thirty-three  acres  of  that  land  were  afterwards 
released — he  receiving  twenty  pounds  and  another  small  par- 
cel of  land  as  a  solatium  —  to  his  brother  Richard,  while  he 
himself  "had  only  but  two  acres  with  a  cottage."  Later  on  his 
father  made  him  an  additional  grant  of  land  worth,  as  he  cal- 
culates its  rental  value,  four  pounds  yearly ;   and  as  eldest  son 

1  The  Hingham  Manor  Rolls  are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  present  Lord 
of  the  Manor,  the  Earl  of  Kimberley,  of  Kimberley  Hall  near  Wymondham, 
Norfolk,  by  whose  kind  permission  search  is  still  being  prosecuted  in  his  Muni- 
ment Room,  but,  to  the  time  of  going  to  press,  no  documents  earlier  than  1650 
have  been  discovered. 


26      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

and  heir  he  of  course  dropped  into  the  disputed  six  acres  on 
his  father's  death. 

Upon  Henry,  the  youngest  son,  there  had  in  the  meantime 
devolved,  by  his  father's  gift,  "divers  other  messuages,  howses 
and  lands  in  Hingham,  Swanton  Morley  and  Great  Witch- 
ingham,  of  the  yerely  valewe  of  fortie  pounds."  Under  the 
will,  again,  he  benefited,  on  attaining  his  majority,  to  the 
extent  of  twelve  acres  and  a  messuage  in  Swanton  Morley  and 
eight  acres  in  Hingham.  Of  the  three  sons  Edward  would 
thus  seem  to  have  fared  the  worst,  the  lion's  share  of  the 
estate,  so  far  as  we  know  it,  falling  to  Henry.  To  what  extent 
Edward  profited  by  the  other  "guifts  and  benefitts  "  asserted 
by  those  mendacious  litigants  his  half-sisters,  is  open  to  seri- 
ous question;  for  if  Anne  Lincoln,  the  scheming  fourth  wife, 
played  her  cards  as  cleverly  in  this  matter  as  she  undoubtedly 
did  in  the  matter  of  the  lands,  it  is  highly  probable  that  her 
detested  stepson  found  himself  little  the  richer  for  his  father's 
alleged  generosity. 

On  the  whole,  old  Richard  Lincoln,  Samuel's  paternal 
grandfather,  undoubtedly  died  possessed  of  a  very  respectable 
estate,  and  had  the  bulk  of  it  descended  in  the  ordinary  course 
to  his  eldest  son,  the  father  of  our  boy-emigrant  would  have 
been  comparatively  well-to-do.  As  it  was,  his  father's  fourth 
marriage  ruined  his  prospects  in  life  and,  by  raising  up  other 
hands  to  grasp  the  property,  made  of  him  a  comparatively 
poor  man.  He  acquired  little  or  no  additional  property,  par- 
ticipated in  no  affairs,  figured  in  few  records.  Were  it  not 
for  the  solitary  action  at  law  into  which  he  was  unwillingly 
dragged,  his  name  would  have  come  down  to  us  only  in  the 
pages  of  a  dilapidated  and  fast-perishing  parish  register,  while 
the  fact  of  his  gentle  birth,  and  the  pathetic  story  of  the  young 
mother  who  bore  but  did  not  live  to  rear  him,  would  have 
been  lost  to  us  forever.  Abandoning  life's  struggle  in  Febru- 


FIVE   GENERATIONS  27 

ary,  1620,  he  was  laid  to  rest  on  the  1  ith  of  that  month  in 
Hingham  churchyard.  So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  he  left  no 
will;  yet  America  at  least  is  indebted  to  him  for  a  legacy  of 
the  best  that  any  man  can  give.  At  the  time  of  his  death  no 
fewer  than  three  of  his  sons — Thomas,  Daniel,  and  Samuel 
— were,  as  we  have  already  seen,  permanently  settled  in  New 
England.  The  question  whether  the  sons  would  ever  have  emi- 
grated had  the  father  been  more  prosperous,  opens  up  a  wide 
vista  of  speculation.  The  United  States  perhaps  owes  her 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  circumstance  that  a  lonely  Norfolk 
widower,  some  hundreds  of  years  ago,  saw  fit  to  solace  him- 
self with  a  fourth  wife  whose  avarice  —  to  put  it  as  gallantly 
as  facts  permit  us  to  do  —  was  not  less  conspicuous  than  her 
virtue. 

Of  her  little  remains  to  be  told.  After  Richard's  decease 
she  lived  a  widow  for  the  remainder  of  her  days,  and  died  in 
the  year  1636,  leaving  a  will1  which  cannot,  unfortunately, 
now  be  found.  Her  two  daughters,  aided  no  doubt  by  the 
substantial  legacies  left  to  them  by  their  father,  had  already 
found  husbands,  —  Anne  in  Robert  Gurney,  Elizabeth  in  Wil- 
liam Gunthorpe,  both  cadets  of  "gentle"  Norfolk  houses. 
This  we  learn  from  a  lawsuit2  in  which  Henry  Lincoln,  their 
brother,  was  involved  in  the  year  1641. 

As  for  Henry  himself,  he  had  by  that  time  attained  to  far 
greater  affluence  than  his  half-brother  Edward  ever  enjoyed. 
His  mother  had  secured  for  him  an  advantageous  start  in  life, 
and  although  the  terms  of  her  will  are  unknown  to  us,  we  may 
reasonably  infer  that,  as  regards  her  own  estate,  her  favourite 
son's  prosperity  was  in  no  wise  diminished  by  her  death.  Sur- 

1  Consistory  Court  of  Norwich,  Register  1637,  according  to  the  Calendar 
of  Wills,  but  no  registered  copy  of  the  will  appears,  nor  does  the  file  for  that 
year  contain  the  original. 

1  Chancery  Proceedings,  Charles  I,  L.  I  :  37  —  Lincoln  v.  Gurney. 


28      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

viving  her  by  half  an  average  lifetime,  Henry  died  in  1667, 
in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  He  was  buried  at  Swanton 
Morley,  where  already  a  little  congeries  of  graves  marked  the 
last  resting-place  of  his  mother,  his  wife,  and  his  half-brother 
Richard. 

The  churchyard  at  Hingham  had  also,  at  this  time,  its 
cluster  of  Lincoln  graves,  some  of  them  hoary  with  age, 
others  comparatively  recent.  Richard  Lincoln  alone,  of  all 
his  immediate  family,  slept  his  last  sleep  within  the  church 
itself.  Without  lay  the  son  of  his  first  marriage,  possibly  one 
or  more  of  his  four  wives,  and  certainly  his  father  and  grand- 
father, both  of  whom  left  injunctions  in  their  wills  that  they 
should  be  buried  there.  The  place  of  their  interment  is  no 
longer  identifiable.  It  has  been  calculated  that  the  burying- 
ground  of  a  populous  country  parish,  such  as  Hingham  then 
was,  is  sown  over  with  human  remains,  in  its  every  part,  once 
in  each  two  hundred  years.  The  ancient  dead  are  there,  but 
no  man  knoweth  the  place  of  their  burial.  Obliterated  by 
the  hands  of  Time  and  the  Sexton,  only  the  Day  can  re- 
veal it. 

Concerning  Robert  Lincoln  of  Hingham,  Richard's  father, 
we  know  little  more  than  his  will,  drawn  on  the  14th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1556,  and  proven  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month,1  is 
capable  of  telling  us.  That  he  died  a  comparatively  young  man 
is  certain,  for  Richard,  the  eldest  of  five  children  then  "being 
on  lyve,"  as  they  used  so  picturesquely  to  express  it,  was  still 
a  minor  when  that  untoward  event  occurred.  Much  in  con- 
sequence devolved  upon  his  mother,  Margaret  Alberye.  On 
her  fell  the  maintenance  of  the  family,  the  upkeep  of  the 
homestead,  the  oversight  and  cultivation  of  the  lands,  until  such 
time  as  Richard  should  come  of  age,  when  he  was  to  have  the 
whole  property  absolutely.    This  is   doubtless  the  ancestral 

1  Arch,  of  Norfolk,  Book  15  :  137. 


FIVE   GENERATIONS  29 

estate  with  part  of  which  he  dealt  on  marrying  Elizabeth  Rem- 
ching  in  or  about  1574.  How  much  other  land,  if  any,  his 
father  settled  upon  him  before  the  making  of  the  will,  or  how 
much  upon  his  younger  brother  John,  we  have  no  means  of 
ascertaining;  but  under  the  will  itself  Richard  got  no  more, 
while  John's  beneficiary  interest  was  confined  to  the  modest 
sum  of  five  pounds. 

For  there  were  others  to  be  thought  of,  and  a  dying  man, 
however  keen  his  solicitude  for  those  who  are  destined  to 
survive  him,  can  do  no  more  than  his  circumstances  permit. 
Daughter  Katherine  must  have  the  tenement  in  Thetford; 
daughter  Agnes,  that  other  tenement  in  Hingham,  known 
from  of  old  as  Portman's.  Then  —  most  pathetic  eventuality 
it  is  possible  to  conceive — another  child,  one  who  would 
never  behold  its  father's  face,  had  to  be  provided  for.  To  it, 
if  a  son,  must  go  Pixton's,  and  Pitcher's,  and  Cooper's,  and 
Broccle's,  and  divers  other  lands  in  Hingham,  including  "the 
one  rood  land  at  Stumpe  Crosse,"  as  from  the  day  of  its 
mother's  decease;  but,  if  a  daughter,  then  Richard  should 
again  take  the  whole,  from  the  time  indicated,  and  pay  to  this 
his  third  sister  thirty  pounds  as  her  child's  portion.  Here  we 
quarrel  with  the  records.  They  pique  our  curiosity,  but  tell  us 
no  more.  Nothing  more,  that  is  to  say,  about  the  little  inde- 
terminate stranger  so  soon  expected  in  the  bereaved  house- 
hold; but  about  the  mother  herself  a  fact  of  much  human 
interest.  Left  a  widow  while  yet  in  the  very  prime  of  woman- 
hood—  enjoying  a  secure  life-interest  in  a  substantial  portion 
of  her  late  husband's  estate — it  is  little  cause  for  wonder  that 
she  should  have  found  favour,  notwithstanding  her  "encum- 
brances," in  the  eyes  of  her  worthy  neighbour,  Roger  Wright. 
They  accordingly  made  a  match  of  it  —  to  all  appearances  a 
most  happy  one. 

Roger  Wright  not  only  regarded  his  wife's  children  with 


3o      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

affection,  but  left  them  gratifying  tokens  of  it  under  his  will.1 
Richard  was  clearly  first  favourite.  To  him  is  devised  a  close 
of  land,  and  as  a  special  mark  of  his  stepfather's  regard  he 
shares  the  executorship  jointly  with  his  mother.  This  was  in 
February,  1 571 .  How  long  his  mother  survived  her  second 
husband,  or  when  she  died,  the  records  again,  with  tantalising 
reticence,  abstain  from  telling  us;  but  the  appointment  goes 
to  show  that  Richard,  her  son,  was  then  of  age  —  a  deduction 
in  every  way  consistent  with  his  marriage  to  Elizabeth  Rem- 
ching  a  few  years  later. 

On  the  1 8th  of  April,  1540,  another  Robert  Lincoln  of 
Hingham  made  his  will,2  but  it,  unlike  those  already  quoted, 
relates  only  to  his  personal  estate.  No  land  is  demised,3  none 
mentioned,  indeed,  except  a  single  close  "called  Broccles," 
and  this  we  immediately  recognise  as  part  of  the  property 
afterwards  settled  by  the  second  Robert  of  Hingham,  in  the 
year  1556,  upon  his  child  then  unborn.  The  will  of  1540 
is,  in  fact,  the  will  of  that  Robert's  father,  and  it  ignores 
the  testator's  lands  because  those  lands  had  already  been  set- 
tled, by  means  of  the  convenient  "surrender  to  uses"  in  the 
Manor  Court,  in  accordance  with  his  wish  and  intent.  In 
framing  this,  his  last  will,  he  saw  no  reason  to  disturb  or 
vary  that  arrangement.  This  deduction  tallies  exactly  with 
the  view  of  the  case  advanced  by  Edward  Lincoln  when, 
in  the  Chancery  suit  of  1621,  he  declares  the  lands  that  de- 
scended to  his  father  Richard  to  have  been  "  the  inheritance 
of  Robert  Lincoln,  father  of  the  said  Richard.'*  Under  the 
actual  will  Robert  got  only  his  father's  harness.  His  interest 
in  the  lands  was  already  secure. 

1  Arch.  Norfolk,  Book  23  :  158. 

1  Arch.  Norfolk,  Book  9  :  276. 

3  Up  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  no  Englishman  could  leave  his  lands  by 
will  away  from  his  eldest  son.  Hence  they  were  rarely  mentioned,  the  eldest 
son  succeeding  as  a  matter  of  course. 


FIVE   GENERATIONS  31 

The  will  of  1 540  is  noteworthy  in  another  respect.  It  af- 
fords a  pretty  illustration  of  one  of  the  most  curious  customs 
of  the  times.  In  those  far-off  days  it  was  a  by  no  means  un- 
common circumstance,  although  certainly  a  most  confusing 
one,  for  two  or  more  children,  sons  or  daughters  of  the  same 
father,  to  be  called  by  one  and  the  same  christian  name.  Thus 
Thomas  Brown  has  two  sons  named  John,  —  John  senior  and 
John  junior, — perhaps  twins,  or  children  born  of  different 
mothers.  William  Jones,  being  blessed  with  triplets,  or  hav- 
ing three  sons  by  successive  wives,  dubs  all  three  Richard. 
They  figure  out  as  Richard  the  elder,  Richard  the  younger, 
and  Richard  "the  middle."  So  in  the  will  of  1540  we  find 
a  dual  Rose,  —  "my  daughters,  Rose  the  elder  and  Rose  the 
younger."  Elizabeth,  an  elder  sister  of  these  girls,  became 
the  wife  of  Hugh  Baldwin,1  from  whom  were  descended  the 
later  Baldwins  of  Hingham. 

The  mother  of  these  girls  was  Joan,2  and  she  it  was  who, 
on  the  3d  of  September,  1543,  proved  the  father's  will  in  the 
Court  of  the  Archdeacon  of  Norfolk,  the  testator  being  then 
but  recently  deceased.  His,  so  far  as  we  at  present  know,  was 
the  first  of  that  little  cluster  of  Lincoln  graves  in  Hingham 
churchyard,  now  utterly  vanished  from  human  ken.  Could 
we  but  identify  his  last  resting-place,  with  what  reverence 
should  we  not  approach  the  spot ;  for  in  this  venerable  man 
we  have  none  other  than  the  great-grandsire  eight  times  re- 
moved of  Abraham  Lincoln,  sometime  President  of  the 
United  States.  The  descent  on  the  English  side  works  out 
in  this  way:  — 

1  See  his  will,  Arch.  Norfolk,  Book  17:  265. 

2  Probably  Cowper,  or  Cooper.  See  will  in  Appendix. 


32      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 


Robert  Lincoln  of  Hingham, 
died  1543 


Robert  Lincoln  of  Hingham, 

eldest  son  and  heir,  died 

1556 


Richard  Lincoln  of  Hingham, 

and  S wanton  Morley,  eldest 

son  and  heir,  died  1620 


Edward  Lincoln  of  Hingham, 

eldest  son  and  heir,  died 

1640 


Samuel  Lincoln  of  Hingham, 
Norfolk,  and  Hingham,  Mass., 
youngest  son,  baptised  24 
August,  1622;   died  1690; 
great-great-great-great- 
grandfather of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, sixteenth  President  of  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  SOCIAL  STATUS  OF  THE 

LINCOLNS 

A  T  this  stage  of  our  story  we  must  pause  to  consider,  as 
/  t\  fully  as  space  and  the  information  at  our  command 
1  m  permit,  the  question  that  not  inappropriately  shapes 
itself  on  the  reader's  lips :  "  These  Lincolns  of  Hingham,  from 
whom  Abraham  of  the  White  House  was  descended  —  were 
they  people  of  consequence,  or  just  ordinary,  every-day  folk?" 
The  question,  it  must  be  frankly  admitted  at  the  outset,  is 
one  of  no  little  difficulty.  Our  point  of  view  is  so  remote,  the 
perspective  of  the  receding  scroll  of  time  so  indistinct,  it  is 
far  from  easy  to  determine  just  how  high  in  the  social  scale 
these  people  stood.  Only  one  thing  can  we  be  quite  sure  of. 
If  they  were  not  very  high  up,  they  were  certainly  not  very 
low  down,  and  their  position  in  a  fairly  well-defined  mid- 
dle stratum  is  thus  indicated  as  "  Minor  Gentry."  Let  us  see, 
then,  what  are  the  conditions,  what  the  ascertained  facts,  and 
from  them  draw  our  conclusions  as  logically  as  we  may. 

In  primeval  days,  "  when  Adam  delved  and  Eve  span,"  no 
one  was  of  gentle,  much  less  of  royal  birth.  But  in  course  of 
time  kings  arose.  They  created  nobles,  who  in  turn  set  up 
retainers.  Of  these  some  rendered  personal  attendance  upon 
their  lords,  carrying  their  shields  or  armour.  To  distinguish 
those  so  honoured  from  the  ruck  of  the  lord's  train,  they  were 
designated  by  various  Latin  or  Gallic  terms  descriptive  of  the 
service  they  rendered,  such  as  scutifer,  armiger,  escuier,  esquire. 
The  original  esquire  was  thus  a  creation.  His  younger  sons 
shared  his  honours,  but  not  in  the  same  degree  as  his  heir.  By 


34      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

birth  they  were  generosi,  gentilshommes,  gentlemen.  Ostensibly  a 
gentleman  was  "  a  man  well  born,"  but  apart  from  this  happy 
accident  of  birth  he  could  be  created  by  Royal  Letters  Patent. 
The  esquire,  on  the  other  hand,  ere  long  ceased  to  be  a  crea- 
tion. Like  the  poet,  he  must  be  born,  not  made.  Nor  could 
he  be  "reputed" — save  in  the  case  of  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
who  were  of  courtesy  styled  esquire  whilst  in  commission. 
It  was  with  the  evolution  of  the  gentleman  that  repute  had 
most  to  do,  and  as  a  consequence  new  heads  constantly  sprang 
into  view  on  this  social  plane.  The  reputed  gentleman,  the 
pretentious  homo  de plebe,  became  in  fact  the  social  Jack-in-the- 
box  of  mediaeval,  as  he  is  of  modern  times.  Under  the  genial 
sunshine  of  patronage  or  prosperity  he  sprang  up  spontane- 
ously, and  provided  his  "substance"  was  sufficient  to  justify 
his  pretensions,  few  denied,  whilst  many  hastened  to  concede, 
the  rank  he  aspired  to.  Next  below  the  gentleman  came  the 
yeoman.  By  right  of  birth  he  was  francus  or  freeman,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  nativus  or  bondsman  born.  Amongst  those 
who  tilled  the  soil  he  ranked  highest,  whilst  the  title  he  bore, 
and  bore  with  justifiable  pride,  was  universally  reckoned  an 
honourable  addition  to  his  name. 

In  the  first  of  the  above  categories  may  be  placed  Robert 
Lincoln  of  Hellington,  sometime  contemporary  and  near 
neighbour  of  our  Richard  of  Hingham.  In  his  day  he  was 
commonly  styled  esquire  —  doubtless  for  good  ancestral  rea- 
sons. He  died  in  the  year  1 609,  and  soon  afterwards  his  widow 
Joan  became  the  wife  of  Sir  Anthony  Gawdy,  knight.  What 
relationship,  if  any,  subsisted  between  this  branch  of  the  Lin- 
coln family  and  that  domiciled  at  Hingham,  remains  an  open 
question  ;  for  in  spite  of  much  painstaking  research  the  most 
that  can  be  said  is,  that  a  variety  of  circumstances  seem  to  point 
to  a  kinship  of  rank,  if  not  of  blood,  between  the  two  families. 

The  first  Robert  of  Hingham,  he  who  died  in  the  year  1 543, 


SOCIAL  STATUS  OF  THE  LINCOLNS     35 

like  his  son  and  namesake  who  followed  him  to  the  grave  in 
1556,  carefully  refrained,  when  making  his  will,  from  append- 
ing to  his  name  any  appellation  indicative  of  social  rank.  The 
circumstance,  occurring  as  it  does  in  so  precise  a  document  as 
a  last  will  and  testament,  is  perhaps  sufficiently  remarkable  to 
justify  a  suspicion,  not  to  say  a  belief,  that  the  testators,  whilst 
living  the  lives  of  ostensible  yeomen,  were  fully  cognizant  of 
their  right  by  descent  to  higher  social  distinction. 

Richard  Lincoln  perhaps  cherished  a  similar  knowledge ; 
for  though  in  his  will  he  styled  himself  yeoman,  he  never- 
theless left  strict  injunctions  that  he  should  be  buried  within 
the  church  of  Hingham,  thus  asserting  in  death  the  rank  that 
he  never,  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  expressly  assumed  in  life. 
He  had  married,  it  is  true,  not  less  than  three,  perhaps  four 
gentlewomen  in  his  time  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the 
injunction  as  to  his  place  of  burial  was  based  on  that  fact  rather 
than  on  his  known  lineage.  Conversely,  it  is  equally  difficult  to 
believe  that  he  could  have  married  such  a  succession  of  gen- 
tlewomen had  he  not  possessed  some  well-authenticated  title 
to  the  rank  he  espoused. 

The  social  standing  of  the  yeoman  who  married  a  gentle- 
woman had  long  before  Richard  Lincoln's  time  been  a  bone 
of  contention  between  the  two  classes  implicated,  and  although 
it  was  generally  conceded  that  the  yeoman  who  thus  bettered 
himself  became  a  gentleman  by  repute,  the  face  of  the  higher 
class  was  resolutely  set  against  any  admission  of  his  claim  as  of 
right.   He  was  gentleman  only  on  sufferance. 

An  instructive  and  amusing  case,  relating  to  this  very  point, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  proceedings  of  that  once  notorious  but 
now  long-since  obsolete  institution,  the  Court  of  Star  Cham- 
ber.1 Occurring  as  far  back  as  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  King 
Henry  the  Eighth's  reign, —  the  very  year,  by  the  way,  in  which 
1  Star  Chamber  Proceedings,  Henry  VIII,  vol.  3  :  ill,  112. 


36      THE   ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

the  first  Robert  Lincoln  of  Hingham  paid  the  debt  of  nature, 
—  it  originated  in  a  suit  brought  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench 
at  Westminster,  by  a  certain  Thomas  Warner,  against  one  Rich- 
ard Barker  of  Hoo  near  East  Dereham,  in  the  county  of  Nor- 
folk. Whether  purposely  or  inadvertently,  Barker  was  described 
in  the  writ  as  yeoman.  To  this  he  at  once  took  wrathful  excep- 
tion. At  the  time  of  the  issue  of  the  writ,  he  declared,  "  he  was 
gentilman,  and  soe  ever  called,  appelled  and  taken."  The  pro- 
ceedings against  him  were  accordingly  quashed,  and  the  point 
in  dispute  —  Barker's  social  status  —  was  remitted  for  trial  to 
the  Assizes  at  Norwich. 

Here  a  fresh  complication  arose.  Of  the  jurors  who  were 
sworn  "  to  trye  the  verytye  of  the  yssue,"  eight  were  for  allow- 
ing Barker  to  "pass"  for  the  gentleman  he  claimed  to  be, 
whilst  the  remaining  four,  being  themselves  gentlemen  all,  so 
strenuously  opposed  this  concession  that  eventually  the  com- 
placent eight  gave  way  and  the  whole  twelve  returned  it  as 
their  unanimous  verdict  that  plaintiff  was  "yeoman,  and  no 
gentleman."  The  difference  of  opinion  coming  privily  to 
Barker's  knowledge,  he  availed  himself  of  it  as  a  pretext  for 
carrying  his  case  to  the  Court  of  Star  Chamber,  alleging  that 
the  jurors,  and  more  particularly  the  four  gentlemen  jurors, 
had  rendered  a  verdict  "nothinge  regardinge  their  othe  ne 
\?ior\  the  evydence  geven  and  shewed."  The  discredited  jurors 
thereupon  joined  issue.  Plaintiff,  they  said,  at  the  former  trial 
"dyd  gyve  in  evydence  that  he  must  nedes  be  a  gentylman,  for 
that  he  had  maryed  the  syster  of  Sir  Walter  Luke,  knyght." 
This  proof  of  his  status  they  "lytyll  estemed,"  and  that  for  the 
most  pregnant  of  reasons.  As  all  the  world  knew,  "maryage 
with  a  gentyl woman  could  not  make  any  man  a  gentylman." 
True,  the  "Heralds  at  Armes  of  thys  Realme  had  graunted 
and  gyven  vnto  hym  [Barker]  armes,  that  ys  to  save,  a  hunde 
\houncT\  barkynge";  but  although  such  a  cognizance  "mvght 


SOCIAL  STATUS  OF  THE  LINCOLNS     37 

perchaunce  brynge  to  remembraunce  the  name  of  Barker," 
yet  in  their  humble  opinion  a  dead  dog  in  no  wise  proved  the 
plaintiff  to  be  a  live  lion.  If  the  Heralds,  moreover,  had  the 
power  thus  to  make  him  gentleman,  why  did  not  they,  whilst 
they  were  about  the  business,  "  make  hym  esquier  "  ?  His  claim 
to  the  one  was  as  good  as  to  the  other.  A  certain  well-known 
fact,  moreover,  was  in  itself  fatal  to  his  pretension.  Barker  of 
Hoo  a  gentleman!  Odzooks!  his  father  "dyd  gayne  more  in 
one  yere  by  hys  vnfeyned  mystere"  or  craft  than  he,  this  up- 
start Barker,  had  done  "  in  halfe  his  lyff  by  hys  vsurpyd  name 
of  gentylman."  For  it  was  matter  of  common  knowledge  the 
countryside  over, not  only  that  his  father  "bye  all  the  tyme  of 
hys  lyff  exersysed  the  mysterye  or  occupaycon  of  a  turner  of 
belles  and  maker  of  treen  dyshes,  ladelles,  and  pott  lyddes," 
but  also  "that  none  of  hys  auncestoures  or  uncles,  brytherne 
or  kynsfolkes,  albeyett  they  were  ryght  honest  pore  folkes, 
ever  enterprysed  the  name  or  degree  of  gentylman,"  but  were 
"  contentyd  to  be  taken  and  reputed  of  the  comon  pore  sorte." 
In  face  of  which  caustic  and  witty  indictment  we  may  well 
believe  that  Barker  forever  after  ranked  as  "yeoman,  and  no 
gentleman." 

No ;  as  the  world  went  then,  and  as  Barker  learned  to  his 
cost,  gentlemen  were  not  to  be  evolved  from  such  base  material 
as  went  to  the  making  of  bells  or  pot-lids.  Nevertheless  it  was  a 
common  enough  occurrence  for  gentlemen  born,  who  through 
no  fault  of  their  own  had  come  down  in  the  world,  or  who 
were  blessed  with  large  families  and  small  estates,  to  conde- 
scend in  the  persons  of  their  sons,  and  more  especially  in  the 
persons  of  their  younger  sons,  to  crafts  of  low  degree.  Nicholas 
Colt  of  Shimpling,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  clerk  in  holy 
orders,  did  as  much  in  the  year  of  grace  161  3.  He  was  parson 
of  the  parish ;  yet  he  thought  it  not  beneath  the  dignity  of  his 
name  or  office  to  apprentice  his  son  to  the  art  and  mystery  of 


38      THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

shipbuilding.  Many  other  gentlemen,  of  similar  or  better  posi- 
tion, shared  his  opinions  and  followed  in  his  footsteps.  Hence 
the  fact  that  both  Thomas  and  Samuel  Lincoln,  eldest  and 
youngest  sons  of  Edward  of  Hingham,  were  in  their  youth 
apprenticed  to  the  weaving,  by  no  means  stamps  the  father  as 
other  than  a  gentleman.  To  argue  in  sequence  that  he  could 
boast  no  origin,  that  his  family  ranked  as  "no  class,"  would 
be  to  argue  wide  of  the  mark.  Edward  Lincoln,  thanks  to  his 
third  stepmother,  was  poor;  but  he  must  not  on  that  account 
be  relegated  to  the  category  of  those  who,  in  the  parlance  of 
his  and  earlier  times,  are  so  picturesquely  described  as  "the 
common  pore  sorte."  The  absence  of  riches  neither  impov- 
erished his  blood  nor  vitiated  his  birth.  It  merely  prevented 
his  maintaining  the  position  both  entitled  him  to.  His  was 
the  lot  of  the  blood-horse  broken  to  the  plough. 

His  brother  Henry,  on  the  contrary,  not  only  assumed 
the  rank  his  birth  conferred  upon  him,  but  maintained  it 
throughout  his  life.  As  early  as  1633  he  is  described,  in  a 
document  suitable  to  be  produced  as  evidence  in  a  court  of 
law,1  as  "Henry  Lincoln,  gent"  —  an  appellation  which, re- 
curring as  it  does  in  numerous  other  documents  relating  to 
the  man,  without  doubt  correctly  defines  his  recognised  social 
position. 

Waiving,  therefore,  any  remoter  ancestral  claim  which  the 
Lincolns  of  Hingham  may  have  had  to  gentility,  it  is  evident 
that,  in  the  later  generations  under  review  at  any  rate,  they 
were  ostensible  yeomen  with  a  dominant  strain  of  gentle  blood 
in  their  veins. 

1  Feet  of  Fines,  Norfolk  :  M.  8  Car.  I.  Fine  between  Francis  Neave,  Esq., 
pltf.,  and  Henry  Lincoln,  gent.,  and  Anne  Lincoln,  widow,  defts. 


CHAPTER    V 
CARBROOKE  AND   THE   REMCHINGS 

EDWARD  LINCOLN  of  Hingham,  it  will  be  re- 
called, was  on  his  mother's  side  a  Remching  —  a 
name  at  that  time,  as  now,  of  exceeding  rarity  in 
England,  being  practically  unknown  except  in  East  Anglia. 
Undoubtedly  alien,  and  probably  Elemish  in  its  origin,  the 
exact  period  at  which  it  made  its  appearance  in  Eastern  Eng- 
land is  altogether  uncertain.  In  all  likelihood  it  had  been  so 
domiciled  for  some  generations  before  Richard  Lincoln  led 
Elizabeth  Remching  to  the  altar;  certainly  long  enough  for 
the  family  to  which  she  belonged  to  have  acquired  both 
wealth  and  position.  The  earliest  known  occurrence  of  the 
name  in  English  records  is  nevertheless  comparatively  modern. 
It  is  found  in  the  parish  register  of  a  small  country  village, 
lying  some  four  and  a  half  miles  to  the  west  of  Hingham, 
called  Carbrooke.  Here,  according  to  that  register,  Anne,  the 
second  daughter  of  Richard  Remching,  was  baptised  on  the 
23d  day  of  September,  1549.  The  baptism  of  Elizabeth,  his 
eldest  daughter,  does  not  appear. 

The  village  of  Carbrooke  is  not  without  its  historical  as- 
sociations. A  Preceptory  of  Knights  Templars  was  founded 
here  by  Roger,  Earl  of  Clare,  prior  to  1 173.  In  that  year  he 
died,  and  his  widowed  countess,  Maud,  as  an  act  of  piety 
donated  the  foundation,  together  with  its  entire  endowment 
of  lands  and  vassals,  to  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem.  Thenceforth  it  was  called  the  Commandery  of 
Carbrooke  —  under  which  name  its  memory  still  survives. 
Closely  adjoining  it,  in  those  days,  there  stood  a  chapel,  dedi- 


4o      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

cated  to  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Both  lay  to  the  south  of  the 
present  church,  on  the  site  roughly  indicated  by  the  foreground 
of  the  illustration;  and  both,  like  the  old  Manor  House  where 
the  Remchings  lived,  have  long  since  totally  disappeared.  The 
present  church  of  Carbrooke  boasts  no  great  antiquity.  It  dates 
from  the  early  years  of  the  sixth  Henry's  reign;  but  in  it  large 
portions  of  the  older  buildings  doubtless  still  withstand  the 
ravages  of  time.  In  the  loft  over  its  north  porch  some  pieces 
of  ancient  armour  are  pointed  out  to  the  curious  —  the  last 
poor  relics  of  the  doughty  knights  who  once  held  sway  in 
Carbrooke. 

It  was  in  this  church  that  the  children  of  Richard  and 
Elizabeth  Remching  were  baptised,  all  except  the  two  eldest 
—  Edward,  known  in  his  day  as  Edward  Remching,  gentle- 
man, and  Elizabeth,  who  afterwards  became  the  first  wife  of 
Richard  Lincoln  and  gave  her  brother's  name  to  her  second 
son,  Edward  Lincoln  of  Hingham,  father  of  the  lad  who  emi- 
grated in  1637.  In  this  church,  too,  on  the  24th  of  March, 
1567,  Richard  Remching  was  buried.  His  will  contains  no 
injunction  that  he  should  be  so  interred.  The  honour  was 
conceded  him  because  of  his  standing  in  the  parish.  He  was 
Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Carbrooke  and  the  Commandery  there. 

For  the  ancient  Commandery  was  no  longer  the  headquar- 
ters of  a  monastic  body.  Dirge  was  no  longer  sung,  mass  no 
longer  said,  the  bede-roll  of  the  faithful  departed  no  longer 
told  in  ancient  church  or  chapel.  Henry  the  Eighth  had 
changed  all  that.  By  a  single  stroke  of  the  royal  pen  the 
ancient  foundation  had  been  "dissolved"  —  the  hospitallers 
driven  forth,  unfrocked  and  beggared,  the  rich  lands  confis- 
cated, the  opulent  revenues  diverted  to  swell  the  coffers  of  the 
King.  From  him  it  passed — no  doubt  for  a  weighty  consid- 
eration—  to  Thomas  Southwell  of  Wood  Rising,  esquire;  and 
he,  about  the  year   1545,  demised  it,  together  with  all  its 


CARBROOKE  AND  THE  REMCHINGS   41 

rights  and  members,  to  Richard  Remching.  The  tenure  was 
of  the  nature  of  leasehold,  and  on  that  basis  the  Remchings, 
father  and  son,  held  it  for  some  forty-two  years.1 

Richard  Remching,  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Carbrooke,  must 
have  been  cut  off  in  the  very  prime  of  life,  for  his  widow  Eliza- 
beth survived  him  twenty-eight  years,  and  of  his  seven  chil- 
dren the  only  one  who  could  have  been  of  age  at  the  time  of 
his  death  was  his  eldest  son,  Edward.  This  we  gather  from  the 
terms  of  his  will,2  under  which  each  child  receives  a  legacy 
of  from  twenty  to  thirty  pounds  in  money — Edward  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  the  others  at  full  age  or  marriage.  His 
daughter  Elizabeth's  was  twenty  pounds  — a  sum  ample  to 
provide  handsomely  for  her  "bride-cart,"  or  wedding  outfit. 

In  addition  to  the  Manor  and  Commandery  of  Carbrooke, 
the  lease  of  which  had  recently  been  renewed  for  a  further 
term  of  years,  Richard  Remching  left  an  estate  comprising  at 
least  three  hundred  and  forty-four  acres  of  land,  an  annual 
rent-charge  of  twenty  shillings,  and  liberty  of  faldage3  for  six 
hundred  sheep  in  Carbrooke  and  the  adjacent  parishes.4  To 
all  this  property,  with  certain  probable  reservations  and  ex- 
ceptions in  favour  of  his  mother  and  brothers,  Edward  Rem- 
ching succeeded  on  coming  of  age.  Soon  after  that  event  he 
married,  and  for  the  remainder  of  the  Carbrooke  lease  occu- 
pied the  lands  and  Manor  House  there,  his  widowed  mother 
residing  with  him.  In  1593,  shortly  after  the  Carbrooke  lease 
expired,  he  sold  the  remaining  property  and  removed  to  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Thetford,  where,  dying  in  the  year 

1  Chancery  Proceedings,  Eliz.,  P.   8  :  50.   Paget  and  another  v.   Elizabeth 
Remching,  widow. 

3  Consistory  Court  of  Norwich,  Reg.  1566-67,  folio  278. 

3  A  right  reserved  by  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  to  set  up  folds  for  his  sheep  in 
the  fields  of  his  tenants. 

4  Feet  of  Fines,  Norfolk:  M.  35-36  Eliz.  Fine  between  Thomas  May, 
pltf.,  and  Edward  Rymshinge,  gent.,  and  Elizabeth  his  wife,  defts. 


42      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

1 6 19,  he  was  buried  in  St.  Cuthbert's  Church.1  As  a  man  of 
acknowledged  substance,  he  had  been  made  one  of  the  trus- 
tees under  the  marriage  settlement  of  Richard  Lincoln,  his 
brother-in-law. 

Of  Richard  Remching,  junior,  Edward's  youngest  brother 
but  one,  we  catch  a  cursory  but  entertaining  glimpse  in  that 
lively  panorama  of  the  ages,  the  official  Proceedings  in  Chan- 
cery, anno  1 593-2  The  period,  as  all  the  world  knows,  was  one 
of  ruffs,  and  in  the  preparation  of  ruffs  much  ingenuity  and 
starch  were  employed.  Queen  Elizabeth,  with  an  eye  to  the 
augmenting  of  her  revenues,  granted  and  sold  to  Richard 
Young  of  London,  esquire,  exclusive  "lycence  to  make  or 
bringe  into  this  realme  of  England,  and  the  dominions  of  the 
same,  all  kyndes  of  starche  for  the  space  of  seaven  yeres." 
This  right  Young  sublet — to  one  Christopher  Abdy  of  Lon- 
don, grocer,  amongst  others.  Abdy,  being  short  of  capital  for 
the  venture,  took  to  partner  one  Bowry,  who,  playing  the 
knave,  induced  Abdy  to  go  bond  for  him  in  large  sums,  and 
then,  payment  of  his  obligations  falling  due,  incontinently  left 
him  to  face  the  music  of  the  courts  and  the  terrors  of  the 
debtor's  prison.  Amongst  those  whom  Abdy  had  good  cause 
to  remember  on  this  account  was  Richard  Remching.  He 
sued  upon  his  bond,  to  the  wretched  starchmaker's  "vtter 
vndooment." 

In  all  the  Remching  gallery  no  figure  appeals  more  forci- 
bly to  the  imagination  than  that  of  Elizabeth  Remching,  the 
ancient  dame  who,  surviving  her  husband  by  nearly  three  de- 
cades, on  the  14th  of  April,  1 595^  lay  dying  in  the  house  of 
her  favourite  son-in-law,  John  Kett,  at  Wymondham.  With  the 

1  His  will  is  in  the  Consistory  Court  of  Norwich,  Reg.  16 19,  folio  240. 

2  Chancery  Proceedings,  Eliz.,  A.  4  :  60.   Abdy  v.  Bowry  and  others. 

3  The  date  of  her  will,  here  quoted.    Prerogative  Court  of  Canterbury, 
Scott,  folio  20. 


CARBROOKE  AND  THE  REMCHINGS    43 

pride  of  life  she  is  all  but  done.  The  "saye  gowne  with  the 
velvet  cape,"  the  "stuffe  gowne  that  came  from  London," 
the  "fyne  smock  late  my  syster's,"  the  "sylke  grogorane  kyr- 
tle,"  the  "stammell  pettycoate  with  the  redd  sylken  frynge," 
—  brave  and  costly  apparel,  in  which  she  was  wont,  in  days 
gone  by,  to  cut  so  stately  a  figure  withal,  —  are  no  more  for 
her  bedecking.  They  must  now  go  to  others — she,  to  the 
inevitable  grave.  Tearfully  her  children  and  grandchildren 
gather  around  her.  The  scrivener  with  his  inkhorn  and  ready 
quill  is  at  her  bedside,  embodying  in  rapid,  formal  lines  her 
last  behests. 

"In  the  Name  of  God,  Amen  !  Firste  I  comend  my  soule 
into  the  hands  of  God  my  Maker,  and  my  bodye  to  be  buryed 
in  the  churche  of  the  towne  of  Carbrooke,  in  the  grave 
wherein  my  late  husband  Richard  Remchinge  was  layed.  I 
give  to  the  parishioners  of  the  saide  towne  of  Carbrooke  my 
greate  Bible,  to  remayne  there  in  the  churche  for  ever.  I  give 
and  bequethe  fortie  shillinges  to  be  bestowed  in  making  vpp 
and  fmishinge  a  convenient  wall  and  other  necessaryes  at  the 
Springe  called  Beckett's  Well,1  beinge  at  the  Abbey  Barne 
Yardes,  and  next  the  myll  in  Wymondham.   I  give  .  .  ." 

With  a  minuteness  of  detail  and  a  faithfulness  of  memory 
marvellous  in  one  so  full  of  years,  the  ancient  dame  recalls 
her  every  earthly  possession — her  plate  and  linen,  her  books 
and  apparel,  her  copper,  brass  and  pewter,  her  money,  debts, 
furniture  —  bestowing  each,  with  loving  foresight,  where  it 
will  best  serve  for  use  and  "remembraunce."  Her  son-in-law 
John  Kett  is  to  have  "the  graye  nagge  he  use  to  ryde  on  "  — 
a  habit  perhaps  contracted  when,  courting  pretty  Mary  Rem- 
ching  at  the  Manor  House  in  Carbrooke,  he  found  himself 
overtaken  by  "rafty"  Norfolk  weather  and  could  not  well 

1  Now  a  mere  drain-pipe,  projecting  from  a  weed-grown  bank. 


44     THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

return  home  afoot.  That  was  a  dozen  years  ago,  and  Mary  is 
now  the  mother  of  seven  daughters,  each  of  whom,  over  and 
above  some  special  token  of  their  aged  grandparent's  regard, 
receives  "a  payre  of  course  sheetes,  a  little  prayer  booke,  and 
twentie  shillinges  in  monie."  And  so  the  long  list  of  benefac- 
tions runs  on,  —  this  ancient  dame  had  eighteen  grandchil- 
dren,— a  gown  to  this  one,  a  kirtle  to  that,  a  goblet  parcel- 
gilt  to  a  third,  to  each  and  all  a  silver  spoon  —  until  the 
treasures  of  a  lifetime  are  dispersed  and  the  prescient  soul, 
stripped  of  earthly  dross,  hovers  in  departing.  "Are  all  re- 
membered, Master  Scrivener?"   "All,  lady,  save — " 

A  gesture  of  dissent,  feeble  but  emphatic,  and  the  husband 
of  her  dead  daughter  Elizabeth  Lincoln,  together  with  that 
dead  daughter's  son  Edward,  is  passed  over  in  silence,  finding 
no  place  in  her  will.  Richard  Lincoln's  repeated  matrimonial 
experiments  had  met  with  scant  approval  at  the  Carbrooke 
Manor  House. 

Notwithstanding  the  explicit  directions  to  that  effect  con- 
tained in  Elizabeth  Remching's  last  will  and  testament,  her 
mortal  remains  found  no  resting-place  in  her  husband's  grave 
within  the  church  of  Carbrooke.1  For  reasons  inscrutable  to 
us  her  wishes  were  disregarded,  and  her  ashes,  committed  to 
holy  ground  at  Wymondham,  mingled  with  the  ashes  of  the 
Ketts. 

1  So,  at  least,  we  are  obliged  to  infer  from  the  fact  that  her  burial  is  not  re- 
corded in  the  register  there. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE   KETTS   OF  WYMONDHAM 

THE  Ketts  !  What  memories  of  noble  but  futile  am- 
bitions, of  clash  of  battle,  of  troubled,  tragic  days, 
does  not  their  name  recall !  Strong  men,  passing 
Wymondham  church  in  the  latter  end  of  those  days,  averted 
their  shuddering  gaze  from  the  gruesome  Monitor  dangling 
there  upon  the  belfry,  malodorous  and  horrible.  John  Kett 
had  never  seen  it  —  it  was  before  his  day.  Yet  not  so  remote 
but  that  he  had  seen  the  chains  and  the  ghastly  bones  in  their 
embrace.  In  his  youth  they  hung  there  still,  and  neither  he 
nor  any  of  his  name  would  ever  forget  the  text  they  clanked 
against  the  lofty  stones :  "  Honour  the  King !  Honour  the 
King  !  '  By  what  dire  straits  of  blood  and  sorrow  the  admo- 
nition was  inculcated  upon  the  Ketts,  the  people  of  Wymond- 
ham, and  the  county  at  large,  we  have  now  to  tell. 

The  Ketts  were  undeniably  of  ancient  lineage.  As  Le  Chat 
they  found  a  home  in  England  either  with  or  shortly  after 
the  coming  of  the  Conqueror.  Later  they  were  called  Le  Cat, 
then  indifferently  Catt  or  Kett.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Ketts  of  Wymondham  bore  the  additional  distinctive  name 
of  Knight,  though  to  what  circumstance  they  owed  the  alias 
we  do  not  learn.  They  were  armigerous,  bearing,  it  is  said: 
Or,  on  a  f esse  between  three  leopards'  heads  erased  and  cabossed 
azure,  a  lion  passant  argent.  The  first  of  the  Wymondham 
family  of  whom  we  possess  any  certain  lineal  knowledge  is 
Richard,  and  him  we  know  only  as  the  father  of  the  first 
John.1   From  him  the  line  runs  down  to  John  Kett  who  mar- 

1  Wymondham  Manor  Rolls,  Public  Record  Office,  from  which,  and  the 
Kett  wills,  the  subjoined  pedigree,  and  that  to  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  are 
now  for  the  first  time  deduced. 


46      THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

ried   Mary   Remching,  youngest  sister  of  Elizabeth   (Rem- 
ching)  Lincoln,  in  this  fashion :  — 

Richard  Kett  alias  Knight 


John  Kett  alias  Knight, 
died  1 5 12 


Thomas  Kett  alias  Knight, 
butcher,  died  1535 


William  Kett  alias  Knight, 
mercer,  died  1549 


Robert  Kett  alias  Knight, 
tanner,  died  1549 


Thomas  Kett  alias  Knight, 
died  1553 


Francis  Kett  alias  Knight, 
clerk  in  holy  orders,  died 
1589  ' 


James  Kett  alias  Knight, 
died  before  1578 


John  Kett  alias  Knight, 

gent.,  married   Mary, 

daughter  of  Richard 

Remching 


The  rise  to  affluence  of  the  Ketts  of  Wymondham  is  as 
remarkable  as  their  temporary  fall  was  sudden  and  appalling. 
So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  neither  Richard  nor  John  Kett 
was  a  man  of  exceptional  wealth.  It  was  with  the  coming 
of  Thomas  the  butcher  that  the  tide  of  prosperity  turned. 

The  people  of  the  time  were  exceptionally  gross  livers. 
Flesh  meat  formed  an  essentially  large  part  of  their  limited 
diet.  To  this  rule  the  great  abbey  on  the  hill  overlooking 
Wymondham  was  no  exception.  The  monks,  it  is  true,  en- 
joyed an  annual  rent,  in  kind,  of  two  thousand  eels  from  the 

1  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  burned  at  the  stake,  in  the  ditch  of  Norwich 
Castle,  on  the  14th  of  January,  1589,  "for  denying  the  deytye  of  Chnste." 


THE   KETTS   OF  WYMONDHAM     47 

weirs  of  Hilgay;  but  eel-pie  was  for  holy-day  consumption 
only.  On  other  days  they  consumed  meat,  and  consumed  it 
as  freely  as  the  inmates  of  cottage  or  mansion.  Thomas  Kett, 
the  shrewd  butcher  of  Damgate  Street,  Wymondham,  cater- 
ing for  these  insatiable  appetites,  found  ready  favour  with  friar 
and  abbot.  Parcel  after  parcel  of  the  finest  monastic  lands 
passed  into  his  possession.  Outside  the  abbot's  domains,  with 
what  he  drew  from  the  purses  of  abbot  and  people,  he  pur- 
chased other  lands.  His  flocks  grew  apace.  As  early  as  1520 
the  Court  Leet  sitting  at  Wymondham  found  the  fields  sadly 
overburdened  with  his  sheep.  That  was  "  in  the  time  of 
shack"  —  /.  e.y  in  the  winter  months,  when  the  larger  land- 
owners pastured  their  flocks  upon  the  holdings  of  the  under- 
tenants. So,  at  the  expense  of  abbot  and  people,  Thomas  Kett 
grew  rich  and  influential.  He  died,  and  Robert  his  fourth  son 
proved  himself  no  laggard  in  the  path  of  prosperity.  Profit- 
ing by  his  father's  example,  industry,  and  foresight,  and  com- 
bining in  himself  the  allied  lucrative  vocations  of  butcher 
and  tanner,  he  was  speedily  in  a  position  to  add  to  his  share 
of  the  paternal  estates  the  entire  Manor  of  Gunvills,1  com- 
prising five  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  ten  messuages, 
and  an  annual  rent-charge  of  one  hundred  shillings.  With 
this  acquisition,  made  in  November,  i  548,  or  about  a  year  be- 
fore Robert  Kett's  tragic  end,  the  Ketts  of  Wymondham  fell 
into  line  with  the  largest  landed  proprietors  of  mid-Norfolk. 
With  the  Ketts  there  rose  into  prominence  another  local 
family,  the  Flowerdews  of  Wymondham  and  Hethersett. 
Blood  for  blood,  there  was  little  to  choose  between  them ; 
but  the  Ketts  had  drifted  into  trade,  whilst  the  Flowerdews, 
keeping  themselves  unspotted  from  the  world  of  commerce, 
had   obtained   commissions   in   various  capacities  under   the 

1  Feet  of  Fines,  Norfolk  :  M.  2  Ed.  6.  Fine  between  Robert  Kett,  pltf.,and 
Richard  Gunvyle,  gent.,  deft. 


48      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

Crown.  From  this  eminence  they  looked  down  upon  the 
Ketts  as  social  inferiors.  A  tacit  rivalry  was  thus  created, 
highly  charged  with  the  elements  of  danger.  On  the  one  side 
contemptuous  arrogance,  on  the  other  hot  resentment,  made 
for  open  hostility.  The  situation  did  not  long  hang  fire. 

The  spark  destined  to  ignite  the  tinder-like  relations  sub- 
sisting between  the  two  rival  houses,  and  to  set  all  Norfolk 
in  a  blaze,  was  supplied  by  the  growing  unrest  of  the  people. 
For  they  too  had  their  resentments  —  resentments  that  ate 
like  a  canker  into  the  very  heart  of  the  commonweal.  The 
great  monastic  houses  stood  empty  and  forsaken;  the  em- 
ployment and  trade  represented  by  their  upkeep  were  lost ; 
the  lands  of  prior  and  abbot,  the  poor  man's  readiest  helpers 
and  kindliest  landlords,  were  in  the  grasp  of  royal  favourites, 
bent,  all  too  often,  on  extracting  the  uttermost  farthing  from 
their  newly  acquired  possessions.  Rents  had  risen  ominously, 
while  the  margin  of  subsistence  enjoyed  by  the  common  peo- 
ple, if  so  narrow  a  margin  could  be  said  to  be  enjoyed,  had 
in  consequence  contracted  almost  to  vanishing  point.  Last  but 
not  least,  the  very  grazing  rights  reserved  from  of  old  for  the 
cattle  of  the  poor  were  threatened  with  summary  extinction  ; 
for  the  rich,  encroaching  boldly  upon  the  common  lands  of 
a  thousand  parishes,  consumed  all  pasturage  with  their  locust- 
like flocks.  Widespread  distress  prevailed,  and  nowhere  more 
acutely  than  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  deserted  monastic 
establishments.  To  these  the  people  had  long  been  accustomed 
to  look  for  relief.  For  the  first  time  within  the  memory  of 
man  they  now  looked  in  vain. 

Such,  in  the  main,  were  the  grievances  cherished  by  the 
people  at  large.  Rankling  in  the  breasts  of  the  people  of 
Wymondham  was  a  private  grievance  of  their  own.  As  part  of 
the  late  dissolved  abbey,  their  church  —  the  beloved  church 
of  their  fathers  —  was  to  be  wantonly  destroyed.  Oh  !  the  pity, 


THE   KETTS  OF  WYMONDHAM     49 

the  pathos  of  it !  In  all  haste  they  petitioned  the  King,  pray- 
ing that  of  the  royal  clemency  the  sacred  edifice  might  be 
spared;  or,  if  so  much  could  not  be  conceded,  that  at  least 
the  bells,  lead,  and  other  materials  might  be  granted  them  as 
materials  with  which  to  build  anew.  The  petition,  promoted 
mainly  by  the  Ketts,  proved  not  altogether  abortive.  The  pro- 
posed demolition  was  countermanded  ;  but  John  Flowerdew, 
Sergeant-at-Law,  by  dint  of  influence  in  high  quarters  obtained 
leave  to  pull  down  the  choir  and  to  appropriate  the  leaden  roof 
to  his  own  use.1 

As  between  the  arrogant  rich,  represented  by  the  Flower- 
dews,  and  an  oppressed  and  indignant  people,  represented  by 
the  Ketts,  matters  were  now  ripe  for  mischief.  The  first  mut- 
terings  of  the  coming  storm  were  heard  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1 549,  although  few  foresaw  the  awful  nature  of  the  tempest 
that  was  so  soon  to  burst  upon  the  startled  country. 

On  that  day  the  annual  fair  was  held  at  Wymondham,  and 
the  country  folk,  emboldened  by  their  own  numbers,  and 
encouraged  and  incited  by  rumours  of  the  success  that  had 
attended  similar  demonstrations  in  other  counties,  proceeded 
to  carry  into  effect  a  long-cherished  project.  This  was  none 
other  than  the  wholesale  destruction  of  the  hedges,  ditches, 
and  fences  with  which  such  men  as  Flowerdew  had  enclosed 
the  neighbouring  waste  lands  and  commons,  to  their  own 
aggrandizement  and  the  grievous  detriment  of  their  poorer 
neighbours. 

Amongst  the  first  of  such  enclosures  to  be  laid  open  that 
day,  by  the  country  folk  who  thus  took  their  fairing,  was  one 
belonging  to  Flowerdew  himself.   He,  believing  the  act  to 

1  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Flowerdew,  owing  to  the  troubles  that  so  quickly  fol- 
lowed, never  enjoyed  any  benefit  of  the  lead,  although  that  circumstance  did 
not  become  known  until  as  recently  as  1834,  when,  during  the  restoration  of 
Wymondham  church, the  plundered  metal  was  found  hidden  away  beneath  the 
floor. 


5o      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

have  been  instigated  by  the  Ketts,  summoned  a  number  of 
labourers  to  his  aid,  distributed  money  amongst  them  with 
generous  hand,  and  bade  them  repay  Robert  Kett  in  his  own 
coin.  They  cheerfully  complied,  and  Kett's  enclosures,  al- 
though not  of  the  nature  of  common  land,  were  laid  open  as 
widely  as  the  unlawful  enclosures  of  his  neighbour.  Stung  to 
the  quick  by  the  unprovoked  insult,  and  enraged  beyond 
measure  by  so  unwarranted  an  act  of  violence,  Kett  next  morn- 
ing placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  similar  band  and  retaliated 
upon  Flowerdew  in  kind. 

Had  Kett  only  paused  here  and  allowed  the  outrage  and 
counter-outrage  to  find  their  logical  sequel  in  a  court  of  law, 
all  would  yet  have  been  well.  But  he  had  all  unwittingly 
aroused  a  fury  he  could  not  withstand.  The  handful  of  fol- 
lowers whom  he  had  that  morning  led  through  the  leafy  lanes 
to  Hethersett  was  now  become  a  turbulent  mob.  "Look 
you!  master,"  cried  they,  "two  months  sithence  the  King, 
God  keep  his  Highness !  commanded  that  all  unlawful  en- 
closures should  be  swept  away.  Have  the  rich  obeyed?  Nay! 
By  our  Lady  of  Pity !  we,  the  people  whose  land  they  steal 
and  whose  faces  they  grind,  will  ourselves  enforce  his  High- 
ness' commands  as  they  have  done  in  Kent,  and  Oxenford,  and 
Devon,  andWillshire,  and  divers  other  places  within  the  realm. 
And  you,  master,  shall  lead  us.  We  have  avenged  you  upon 
your  enemy  —  'tis  now  your  turn  to  do  as  much  for  us." 

So  the  clamorous  mob  —  and  Kett,  yielding  to  their  force- 
ful solicitations,  set  himself  at  their  head  for  weal  or  woe  — 
the  avowed  champion  of  his  country's  laws,  the  would-be 
liberator  of  a  long-suffering  people. 


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CHAPTER  VII 
THE  NORFOLK  FURIES 

FROM  Hethersett  this  tide  of  men,  let  loose  upon  the 
land  through  the  medium  of  a  private  quarrel,  rolled 
on  to  Norwich,  demolishing  the  obnoxious  enclosures 
as  it  passed,  growing  in  volume,  and  strength,  and  lawlessness 
in  the  name  of  law,  with  every  mile.  Kett  was  joined  by  his 
brother  William,1  a  prosperous  mercer  of  Wymondham  and 
a  man  who,  although  some  years  his  senior,  was  greatly  his 
inferior  in  initiative  and  executive  ability.  Many  of  the  well- 
to-do  farmers  cast  in  their  lot  with  this  novel  movement;  but 
the  gentry  for  the  most  part  wisely  held  aloof. 

On  the  iith  of  July  the  mob,  now  grown  to  formidable 
proportions,  crossed  the  river  at  picturesque  Cringleford  and 
encamped  under  the  walls  of  Norwich,  which  they  summoned 
to  surrender.  With  contumely  they  were  refused  admittance, 
the  High  Sheriff  of  Norfolk  proclaiming  them  rebels  and 
traitors,  and  in  the  King's  name  commanding  them  forthwith 
to  disperse  to  their  homes  under  pain  of  the  direst  penalties. 
The  proclamation  was  greeted  with  shouts  of  derision,  and 
the  great  gathering,  angered  by  the  episode,  swept  round  the 
walls  of  the  terrified  city  and  encamped  on  Mousehold  Heath. 

In  the  meantime  Kett  had  been  devoting  many  hours  to 
thought  —  and  dreams.   In  those  hours  there  came  to  him  — 

1  Neville,  Russell,  and  other  historians  of  this  terrible  "  commotion  time," 
state  that  three  brothers  Kett  were  implicated.  The  statement  is  clearly  an 
exaggeration.  All  the  evidences  in  the  case  —  the  wills,  the  Wymondham 
Manor  Rolls,  and  the  State  Papers  —  go  to  show  conclusively  that  Robert  and 
William  Kett  alone  were  concerned  in  the  engineering  of  the  movement.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  no  third  brother  was  alive  at  the  time. 


52      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

fateful  visitant  —  a  vision  of  dominion  before  which  the  paltry- 
acres  filched  by  the  rich  dwindled  into  insignificance.  At  his 
feet  lay  spread  a  kingdom  —  one  wherein  no  man  wras  op- 
pressed, no  child  cried  for  bread,  no  law  bore  unequally  or 
unjustly,  no  king  showed  himself  a  partisan.  God  but  give 
him  grace,  and  he  would  sweep  away  enclosures  of  another 
sort  than  those  his  ignorant  followers  were  bent  on  destroy- 
ing. So  his  ambition,  overleaping  the  modest  bounds  he  had 
at  first  set  it,  lured  him  on.  But  first  he  must  have  this  city, 
enthroned  on  the  hills  before  him.  Arms  were  there  in  abun- 
dance, and  powder,  corn,  and  money.   He  must  have  the  city. 

Whether  for  the  assaulting  of  the  city  or  for  the  repelling 
of  such  attacks  as  must  in  the  very  nature  of  things  be  made 
upon  him,  he  could  not  have  chosen  a  spot  of  greater  strate- 
gic possibilities.  The  lofty  Heath  overlooked  all  Norwich, 
which  lay  as  it  were  but  a  stone's  throw  beneath  its  gorse-clad 
heights.  From  the  ancient  chapel  chosen  as  his  headquarters 
—  known  to  this  day  as  "Kett's  Castle"1 — a  precipitous  hill- 
side fell  away  to  Dussindale,  where  the  Wensum  then  as  now 
flowed  sinuously  between  the  hill  and  the  city  wall  —  on  this 
side  low,  out  of  repair,  distant  from  the  city's  centre  and  diffi- 
cult of  defence.  Behind  him,  for  supplies,  lay  the  fattest  lands 
in  Norfolk. 

On  this  spot,  beneath  a  spreading  oak  named  by  Kett  him- 
self "The  Oak  of  Reformation,"  he  set  up  his  court,  exercis- 
ing freely  all  the  functions  of  the  power  he  dreamed  of. 
Reinforcements,  such  as  they  were,  flowed  in  apace.  To  hold 
this  growing  rabble  in  check,  to  direct  its  restless  energies 

1  The  ruins  of  St.  Michael's  chapel,  otherwise  "  Kett's  Castle,"  stand  on  the 
left-hand  side  as  you  ascend  Gas-Hill  to  the  brow  of  the  Heath, in  what  is  now 
the  garden  of  the  manager  of  the  city  gas-works.  The  chapel  anciently  stood 
in  Tombland,  within  the  city,  whence  it  was  removed  to  its  present  site  by 
Herbert  de  Losinga,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  when,  founding  the  monastery  and 
the  cathedral,  he  sought  to  improve  the  approach  on  the  west. 


THE   NORFOLK   FURIES  53 

into  the  channel  of  his  ambitions,  was  a  task  more  than  suf- 
ficient even  for  one  of  Rett's  calibre.  Supplies  were  plentiful, 
and  his  lawless  followers,  waxing  fat  and  unruly,  ravaged  the 
countryside  for  miles  around,  indulging  in  wholesale  plunder, 
sacking  mansions,  haling  before  their  chief  all  who  resisted 
their  exactions.  To  cool  their  misdirected  ardour,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  further  his  own  projects,  Kett  resolved  to  attack 
the  city  without  delay.  His  resolution  was  both  confirmed 
and  quickened  by  the  arrival  on  the  scene  of  the  Marquis 
of  Northampton,1  a  general,  according  to  repute,  "better 
acquainted  with  the  witty  than  the  warlike  side  of  Pallas," 
"more  skilled  in  leading  a  measure  than  a  march."  At  his 
back  the  Marquis  had  about  2500  men;   Kett,  20,000. 

The  first  intimation  the  startled  watchers  upon  the  ram- 
parts had  of  Kett's  design  was  supplied  by  the  emergence  from 
the  river  of  a  dripping  band  who  hurled  themselves  with  irre- 
sistible fury  upon  the  defences,  where  these  were  weakest. 
The  defenders  fled,  and  the  invaders,  throwing  open  the  por- 
tals of  Bishop's  Gate,  admitted  their  comrades-in-arms.  The 
mayor  of  Norwich  was  at  that  time  a  loyal  worthy  named 
Codd.  "To-morrow,"  cried  the  jubilant  rebels,  who  bore  him 
no  love,  "  we  shall  see  a  Codd's  head  sold  for  a  penny ! '  The 
gibe  was  premature.  On  the  morrow  rebels'  heads  were  to  be 
worth  less  money.  For  on  arriving  at  St.  Martin's  Plain,  below 
the  Bishop's  palace  and  opposite  the  Cow  Tower,  the  invaders 
came  all  unexpectedly  face  to  face  with  the  trained  bands  of 
the  Marquis. 

A  desperate  conflict  ensued.   Of  the  rebels,  even  those  who 

were  thrust  through,  or  whose  hamstrings  were  cut  asunder 

'  The  brother  of  Queen  Catherine  Parr.  He  was  called  by  the  young  King 
his  "honest  uncle"  (Baker's  Northamptonshire,  ii,  p.  60).  His  widow,  a 
Swedish  gentlewoman,  married  in  1 5 80  to  Sir  Thomas  Gorges  of  Wilts.,  kins- 
man of  the  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  so  well  known  in  connection  with  his  ill- 
fated  colony  of  Gorgeana,  now  York,  Maine. 


54      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

by  the  keen,  incessant  blades  of  the  city's  defenders,  are  said 
to  have  fought  till  their  dying  hands  could  no  longer  grasp 
a  weapon.  Foremost  in  the  bloody  fray,  "offering  himself 
manfully"  for  King  and  country,  rode  Lord  Sheffield,  "a 
noble  gentleman  and  of  good  service."  From  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning  until  noon  of  the  same  day  —  Lammas  Day, 
being  the  ist  of  August — the  battle  raged  with  varying  for- 
tunes. Then  an  accident  turned  the  scale.  Sheffield's  horse, 
planting  his  foot  in  a  hole,  threw  his  rider  heavily,  and  ere 
the  latter  could  recover  himself  a  herculean  butcher,  Faulke 
by  name,  rushed  upon  him  and  dashed  out  his  brains  with  a 
club.  Until  quite  recent  years  a  great  S,  set  in  the  roadway 
with  cobblestones,  marked  the  spot  where  this  valiant  soldier 
fell.1 

With  the  fall  of  Sheffield,  Kett,  who  had  comported  him- 
self no  less  bravely  than  his  antagonist  in  that  sanguinary 
struggle,  was  left  undisputed  master  of  the  city.  Master  of  the 
city,  though  not  of  his  own  undisciplined  hordes.  For  one 
awful  day  Norwich  was  given  over  to  the  uncontrollable  pas- 
sions of  the  mob,  who,  intoxicated  by  dearly  bought  victory 
and  the  contents  of  many  a  well-lined  cellar,  sacked,  plun- 
dered, and  burned  with  mad  impunity. 

Old  Neville,  the  none  too  impartial  historian  of  those 
terrible  days,  writing  in  the  year  1 57$,  not  inaptly  styles  them 
"The  Norfolk  Furies,"  and  expressly  declares  that  but  for 
an  opportune  fall  of  rain,  of  unexampled  heaviness,  they 
must  have  reduced  the  entire  city  to  ashes.  The  providential 
downpour  quenched  more  than  the  incendiary  fires.  It  drove 
the  rebels  to  shelter  and  "cast  a  bridle  upon  their  rage." 
Codd  retained  his  head,  and   Northampton,  slipping  away 

1  Let  into  the  wall  of  an  adjoining  inn  called  the  "  Cupid  and  Bow  "  is  an 
inscribed  tablet  which  reads  :  "  Near  this  place  was  killed  Lord  Sheffield  in 
Kett's  Rebellion,  1  August,  1549."  The  tablet  is  modern. 


THE   NORFOLK   FURIES  55 

under  cover  of  the  tempest,  a  drenched  and  pathetic  figure, 
carried  his  to  London. 

In  the  very  flush  of  victory  Kett  found  himself  confronted 
by  a  serious  dilemma.  Rumour  had  it  that  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick, a  man  the  living  antithesis  of  that  court  ornament  on 
horseback,  Northampton,  had  been  chosen  to  lead  a  powerful 
army  against  him.  This  city  that  he  held  in  his  grasp  was  one 
"  of  parchment  walls."  Could  he  hope  to  defend  so  great 
an  area,  encompassed  only  by  such  walls,  against  troops  sea- 
soned by  months  of  activity  in  other  fields?1  A  thousandfold 
easier,  wiser,  to  defend  the  camp  at  Mousehold.  With  Kett, 
to  resolve  was  to  do.  To  Mousehold,  after  levying  generous 
tribute  on  the  city,  he  accordingly  retired,  carrying  with  him 
all  the  great  guns  and  ammunition.  He  would  need  them. 
The  Earl,  it  was  confidently  reported,  had  with  him  fifteen 
thousand  men.2 

For  the  present  there  was  nothing  to  fear.  The  march  of 
Warwick's  men  was  nosuch  "Nine  Daies  Wonder"  as  the  feat 
performed  fifty  years  later  by  Thomas  Kemp,  one  of  Shake- 
speare's comedians,  who  came  dancing  the  morris-dance  from 
London  to  Norwich  in  nine  days'  time.  For  the  present  there 
was  nothing  to  fear  —  but  much  to  be  done.  Strenuously  Kett 
set  himself  to  prepare  for  their  coming,  shrewdly  foreseeing 
that  for  himself  and  his  adherents  the  issue  was  this  time  to 
be  one  of  life  or  death. 

1  They  had  been  employed  against  rebels  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

2  Many  attempts  to  mediate  between  Kett  and  the  King  had  in  the  mean- 
time been  made —  without  success.  Prominent  amongst  the  intermediaries  was 
Dr.  Matthew  Parker,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  —  himself  a  Nor- 
wich man  and  the  author  of  A  Defence  of  the  Marriage  of  Priests.  He  had 
been  one  of  the  first  of  his  order  to  marry,  and  so  beautiful  and  amiable  a 
woman  was  his  wife  that  Bishop  Ridley,  confirmed  celibate  though  he  was, 
once  anxiously  enquired,  when  visiting  at  the  worthy  doctor's  house  in  Cam- 
bridge, "  whether  she  had  got  a  sister  like  her." 


56      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

As  for  the  rabble  host,  swarming  upon  its  human  ant-hill, 

its  prevision  was  less  clear  than  his.  A  fatal  plenty  prevailed. 

Ale  flowed  in  rivers ;  a  fat  sheep  could  be  bought  for  a  groat ; 

the  parks,  the  cellars,  the  poultry-yards  of  the  hated  gentry 

invited  easy  pillage;   the  camp  abandoned  itself  to  unbridled 

licence.    Three  thousand   bullocks,  twenty  thousand  sheep, 

with  swans,  geese,  ducks,  and  domestic  fowls  innumerable, 

went,  if  report  say  truly,  to  feed  the  daily  excesses  of  this 

gluttonous  mob.   "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow — we 

conquer!  "  was  the  boastful  cry  on  every  lip.   In  every  mouth 

was  heard  the  doggerel  prophecy  to  which  all  pinned  their 

faith :  — 

"  The  country  gnoffes,  Hob,  Dick,  and  Hick, 
With  clubs  and  clowted  shoon, 
Shall  fill  the  vale  of  Dussin's  dale 
With  slaughtered  bodies  soon." 

And  now,  late  in  August,  winding  through  the  deserted 
cornfields  came  Warwick,  with  his  ponderous  army,  his  heavy 
ordnance,  his  "barrel  of  halters"  in  pickle  for  such  poor  fools 
of  rebels  as  should  be  deceived  by  his  specious  offers  of  par- 
don.1 Kett,  his  better  judgment  overridden  by  the  superstition 
of  his  infatuated  followers,  moved  down  from  the  heights  of 
Mousehold  and  entrenched  himself  in  fateful  Dussindale,  there 
to  await  the  victory  which  Heaven  seemed  to  proffer.  Never- 
theless, an  evil  omen  here  befell,  presaging  disaster.  Alice 
Kett,  his  wife,  was  at  this  time  with  him.  One  day,  as  they 
descended  the  hillside  from  the  deserted  upper  camp,  a  viper 
sprang  from  the  hollow  of  a  tree  and  fastened  itself  upon  her 
bosom.  For  the  first  time  since  he  had  set  his  hand  to  war, 
Kett  paled  before  the  omen. 

On  the  25th  of  August  Warwick  and  the  nobles  with  him 
took  the  ancient  pledge  of  battle,  kissing  swords  for  death  or 

1  So  it  was  commonly  reported  in  the  rebel  camp. 


THE   NORFOLK  FURIES  57 

victory.  This  again  augured  ill  for  Kett  and  the  "country 
gnorTes  with  clowted  shoon"  who  thronged  the  valley  beyond 
the  walls. 

Events  now  marched  swiftly.  The  27th  saw  Warwick  early 
astir,  the  rebels  in  watchful  readiness.  As  the  Earl's  forces  de- 
bouched upon  the  plain  through  the  gates  of  St.  Martin  at 
Oak,  Kett  drew  out  to  meet  them,  planting  between  himself 
and  the  enemy,  in  the  very  forefront  of  the  battle,  a  living 
barricade  of  fettered  gentlemen  prisoners,  whom  he  had  re- 
served for  this  unenviable  part  in  the  coming  struggle.1  Per- 
ceiving his  design,  Thomas  Drury,  one  of  Warwick's  ablest 
adjutants,  swung  round  and  took  him  in  flank,  pouring  into 
his  serried  ranks  a  deadly  fire  from  arquebuses.  Simultaneously 
the  gentlemen  prisoners,  rending  asunder  the  chain  that  held 
them  in  line,  drew  aside  to  right  and  left,  and  the  Lance 
Knights,  getting  home  on  Kett's  front  with  their  thirsty  pikes, 
drove  the  whole  mass  of  rebels  back  pell-mell  upon  their  en- 
trenchments. On  these,  after  a  brief  breathing  space,  charge 
after  charge  was  delivered.  Slowly  but  surely,  as  the  August 
sun  climbed  higher  over  the  crimsoned  valley,  the  superior 
discipline  and  weapons  of  the  royal  troops  prevailed,  until  at 
length  the  Earl's  light  horse,  thus  far  held  in  reserve,  rode 
furiously  into  the  midst  of  the  now  disheartened  rebels  and 
scattered  them  like  so  many  frightened  sheep.  Ere  noon  that 
day  the  ancient  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  though  not  as  the  rebels 
read  it.  Thirty-five  hundred  of  their  own  dead  lay  stark  in 
Dussindale. 

Defeated  of  his  hopes,  Robert  Kett  yielded  to  his  fears 
and  fled  north  to  Swannington,  where,  his  horse  failing  him, 

1  John  Spencer  of  Norwich,  esquire,  was  one  of  the  unfortunate  prisoners 
So  "  sett  in  the  moste  daunger  of  the  battayle."  A  graphic  account  of  his  cap- 
ture by,  and  his  adventures  with,  that  "heyghnous  and  rancke  traytour,  Robert 
Kett,"  may  be  read  by  the  curious  in  the  Proceedings  of  what  he  calls  "  the 
Sterry  Chamber,"  Edw.  6,  1 :  74. 


5S      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

he  sought  refuge  in  a  barn,  finding  concealment  and  rest  be- 
neath a  truss  of  hay.  Late  that  night  his  pursuers  found  him 
there,  and,  by  Warwick's  order,  forthwith  haled  him  to  Lon- 
don, wrhere  he,  together  with  his  brother  William,  was  brought 
to  speedy  trial.  To  the  indictment,  which  charged  them  with 
"divers  treasons  and  felonies,"  they  pleaded  not  guilty.  They 
had  taken  up  arms,  they  said,  not  against  their  liege  lord  the 
King,  but  against  the  tyrant  gentry.  The  plea  availed  them 
little.  Both  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged  at  Tyburn  and  there- 
after to  be  beheaded,  drawn  and  quartered1 — a  sentence  pre- 
sently varied  for  a  fate  still  more  terrible. 

On  the  2  2d  of  October  we  find  them  prisoners  in  the  Tower, 
William,  as  the  older  and  less  deeply  implicated,  "goinge  at 
large  "  there.2  This  concession  meant  nothing.  In  the  margin 
of  the  official  list  on  which  their  names  appear,  may  be  seen, 
written  in  the  quavering,  upright  hand  of  the  boy-king,  Edward 
the  Sixth,  the  fatal  word:  "Justice."  Yet  a  short  respite,  and 
on  the  7th  of  December,  1 549,  Robert,  the  arch-rebel,  was 
hanged  in  chains  from  the  battlements  of  Norwich  Castle, 
while  William  suffered  a  like  fate  on  the  belfry  of  Wymondham 
church.3  The  adder  bit  deep  that  day  into  Alice  Kett's  bosom. 

Strange  to  say,  the  fortunes  of  the  Ketts  suffered  little 
through  the  events  of  those  stirring  months.  Certain  lands 
in  the  tenure  of  the  rebel  leaders,  Robert  and  William  Kett, 
were  as  a  matter  of  form  escheated  to  the  King  as  Lord  of  the 
Manor  of  Wymondham  Abbey,  of  which  they  were  holden; 
but  no  sooner  had  the  forfeiture  been  carried  into  effect  than 
the  lands  were  regranted  to  their  heirs4 — a  commendable  act 

1  Public  Record  Office,  London:    Baga  de  Secretis,  Pouch  17,  Bundle  4, 
where  the  official  record  of  the  trial,  hitherto  overlooked,  may  be  seen. 

2  State  Papers  Domestic,  Ed.  6,  vol.  9:  48:  "A  Report  of  the  Prysoners 
beinge  in  the  Tower  the  xxij  of  October"  (1549). 

3  Wymondham  Manor  Rolls,  5  Ed.  6. 

4  Wymondham  Manor  Rolls. 


THE   NORFOLK   FURIES  59 

of  grace.  John  Kett  of  Wymondham,  grandson  of  Robert  the 
rebel  and  grandnephew  of  William,  was  thus  in  a  position  to 
marry  a  daughter  of  Richard  Remching,  Lord  of  the  Manor 
of  Carbrooke  —  an  alliance  that  brought  him  into  close  rela- 
tionship with  the  Lincolns  of  Hingham,  since  Mary  his  wife 
was  own  sister  to  Elizabeth  Lincoln,  first  wife  of  Richard 
and  grandmother  of  Samuel  the  emigrant. 

The  prestige  of  the  family,  singularly  enough,  suffered  still 
less.  No  lasting  stigma  appears  to  have  attached  to  it  because 
two  of  its  members  had  had  the  misfortune  to  run  foul  of  the 
common  hangman.  The  reason  is  perhaps  not  far  to  seek.  The 
people,  the  ultimate  judges  of  the  unhappy  brothers,  deemed 
them  guilty  of  no  crime;  or,  at  the  worst,  only  of  justifiable 
crime  against  those  who  sought,  unjustifiably,  to  subvert  their 
ancient  rights  and  privileges.  They  were  true  patriots,  al- 
though unfortunate  ones.  In  the  hearts  of  the  people,  whose 
cause  they  espoused,  and  on  whose  behalf  they  died,  they  lived 
as  a  type  of  that  noble  order  of  men  who,  once  in  genera- 
tions of  men,  dare  lift  voice  and  hand  in  defiance  of  might 
that  seeks  to  foist  itself  upon  the  weak  as  right.  They  were 
martyrs  in  that  most  righteous  of  causes,  the  commonweal; 
prototypes  of  lesser  martyrs  who,  before  another  century  of 
years  should  pass,  were  to  suffer,  not  death,  it  is  true,  but  per- 
petual exile  from  the  land  of  their  fathers  and  of  their  birth 
for  convictions  cast  in  the  Kett  mould. 

For  many  years  the  chains  clanked  their  harsh  admonition, 
"Honour  the  King!"  against  the  lofty  stones  of  Norwich 
Castle  and  Wymondham  belfry.  And  the  people,  whilst  hon- 
ouring their  sovereign  perforce,  honoured  the  Ketts  for  the 
love  they  bore  them.  The  chains  rusted  and  fell  away,  but 
the  story  of  those  courageous  men  who  suffered  death  for 
the  people's  sake  became  a  household  tale,  retold  for  many  a 
year  at  every  Norfolk  fireside.  Young  Samuel  Lincoln,  like 


60      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

his  father  and  grandfather  before  him,  heard  it  time  and 
again  in  the  fifteen  years  he  breathed  his  native  air  —  heard 
it  until  in  his  heart  there  took  root,  we  may  believe,  the  seed 
of  that  hatred  of  oppression  which,  centuries  later,  was  to 
bear  such  noble  fruit  in  his  lineal  descendant,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, the  Liberator. 


Drawing  of  Seal  used  by  Richard 
Lincoln  in  attesting  his  Will 


PART   II 
THE  AMERICAN  ANCESTRY 


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CHAPTER   VIII 
THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE 

SO  few  of  the  lay  readers  for  whom  this  book  is  particu- 
larly written  are  familiar  with  the  series  of  brilliant 
discoveries  which  have  been  made  during  the  past  half- 
century  among  the  official  records  in  New  England,  New  Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky,  casting  light  on  the 
obscure  points  and  perfecting  every  link  in  the  chain  of  evi- 
dence, that  it  has  seemed  best  to  reproduce  here,  in  compact 
and  orderly  form,  all  that  has  been  done  to  this  time,  and  with- 
out a  clear  knowledge  and  understanding  of  which  the  au- 
thors' discovery  of  the  English  Lineage  of  Samuel  Lincoln 
would  be  meaningless  and  of  no  value. 

Samuel  Lincoln,  sixth  son  and  seventh  child  of  Edward 
Lincoln,  gentleman,  of  Hingham,  county  Norfolk,  Eng- 
land, was  baptised  there  24  August,  1622.1  He  was  appren- 
ticed to  Francis  Lawes,  a  weaver  of  Norwich,2  probably  about 
1633,  and  accompanied  his  master  and  family  to  New  Eng- 
land in  1637  in  the  "John  and  Dorethey"  of  Ipswich  or  the 
"Rose"  of  Yarmouth.3 

1  He  is  called  eighteen  in  the  shipping  list  of  1637,  anc^  seventy-one  at  his 
death  in  1690,  which  agree  with  each  other  and  place  his  birth  at  about  1619. 
The  usual  time  of  baptism  was,  however,  at  a  few  days  old,  and  this  was  pro- 
bably not  an  exception. 

2  Francis  Lawes  himself  had  been  admitted  to  the  Freedom  of  the  City  of 
Norwich  24  November,  1617  (Freeman's  Rolls),  as  having  been  apprentice 
to  Reg  :  Hoath.  He  was  resident  in  the  parish  of  St.  Mary  Coslany  in  1633-34 
(Norwich  Rate  Book,  p.  65)  . 

3  "These  people  went  to  N.  E  :  with  William:  Andrewes :  of  Ipswich 
Mr.  of  the :   John  :  and  Dorethey :  of  Ipswich  and  with  William  Andrewes 


64      THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

He  had  been  preceded  to  America  by  his  elder  brothers, 
Thomas  and  Daniel,  who  had  settled  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  a 
circumstance  which  probably  determined  his  removal  there 
at  the  end  of  his  apprenticeship,  after  "  living  some  time  at 
Salem."  x 

Daniel  Lincoln  died  unmarried  in  1644,  and  left  his 
brother  Samuel  his  principal  legatee.  Thomas  Lincoln,  the 
other  brother,  although  twice  married,  left  no  children  and, 
at  his  death  in  1675,  also  bequeathed  the  greater  part  of  his 
estate  to  Samuel  and  his  children. 

Samuel  Lincoln  married  Martha  ,  whose  surname  has 


/ 


n 


Samuel  Lincoln  pf\    Martha  Lincoln 


not  yet  been  discovered,2  and  who  died  10  April,  1693.  He 
died  26  May,  1690,  aged  seventy-one  years.  They  had  issue 
eleven  children,  of  whom  eight  survived  their  parents.  Of 
these,  however,  we  will  only  follow  the  history  of  Mordecai 
Lincoln,  the  fourth  son  and  child,  who  was  born  at  Hing- 
ham, 14  June,  1657. 

Mordecai  Lincoln  resided  at  Hingham  until  1700,  when 
he  erected  "a  spacious  house"  at  Boundbrook  Bridge  in 
Scituate,  and  also  the  Lincoln  Mills  in  the  same  place.3  He 
modestly  called  himself  "blacksmith"  in  his  will,  but  was  a 
large  and  wealthy  proprietor  of  iron  works,  grist  and  saw  mills. 
The  former  occupation,  as  we  shall  see,  became  hereditary 
among  his  descendants. 

his  Sone  Mr.  of  the  Rose  :  of  Yarmouth."  Caption  of  Shipping  List,  8  April, 
1637  ;    Hotton's  Lists,  p.  289. 

1  Cushing's  MS.  op.  cit.,  Lincoln's  History  of  Hingham. 

2  The  introduction  of  the  name  of  Mordecai,  heretofore  unknown  in  the 
Lincoln  family, among  the  children  of  Samuel  may  supply  a  clue  to  the  identity 
of  the  wife  Martha  in  the  future.  It  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  by  younger 
genealogists. 

3  Deane's  History  of  Scituate,  p.  304. 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         65 

He  married,  first,  Sarah  Jones,  daughter  of  Abraham  and 
Sarah  (Whitman)  Jones  of  Hull,  Mass.,  a  marriage  note- 
worthy for  its  first  introduction  of  the  name  of  Abraham  into 
the  Lincoln  family,  a  name  afterward  to  be  made  so  illustrious 
and  which,  with  Mordecai,  became  characteristic  of  this 
branch,  as,  from  that  time  to  the  present,  there  has  rarely  been 
a  generation  of  their  descendants  without  one  or  both  of  them. 

Sarah  Jones,  the  first  wife,  probably  died  soon  after  the 
removal  to  Scituate;  and  he  married,  secondly,  Mary  Gan- 
nett, a  widow,  who  survived  him  for  many  years,  dying  19 
April,  1745,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine. 

Mordecai  Lincoln,  like  his  great-grandfather,  Richard 
Lincoln  of  Swanton  Morley  in  England,1  died  very  suddenly, 
"of  an  apploplexy,"  8  November,  1727,  in  the  seventy-first 
year  of  his  age. 

His  will,  dated  3  May,  1727,  was  proved  27  March,  1728. 
In  it  he  provides  liberally  for  his  widow,  Mary,  gives  to  his 
son  Mordecai  ^110  in  bills  of  credit,  to  his  son  Abraham 
^60  "besides  what  he  hath,"  to  his  son  Isaac  the  house  he 
then  occupied  in  Hingham  (probably  the  old  homestead  of 
the  father),  and  to  his  son  Jacob  his  homestead  at  Scituate, 
with  lands,  mills,  and  other  valuables.  Makes  bequests  to  the 
eldest  children  of  his  sons  Mordecai  and  Abraham,  the  two 


Mo 


^x.  ct»  1*£*lC  «"i 


children  of  his  deceased  daughter  Elizabeth  Cole,  the  eldest 
child  of  his  daughter  Sarah  Tower,  Deborah  Gannett,  his 
wife's  granddaughter,  and  Mary  Gannett,  her  daughter.  He 
also  makes  provision  for  sending  three  of  his  grandchildren 
to  college,  "should  they  desire  a  liberal  education."   His  in- 

1  See  English  Ancestry,  p.  21. 


66      THE   ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

ventory  of  ^3099  14J.  %d.  (a  large  sum  for  the  period)  indi- 
cates the  affluence  of  his  condition. 

Of  the  six  children  of  Mordecai,  the  two  eldest,  Mor- 
decai  and  Abraham,  removed,  probably  in  the  first  decade 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  New  Jersey,  and,  later,  to  Penn- 
sylvania, where  wre  shall  follow  them. 

Isaac  Lincoln,  the  third  son,  born  24  October,  1691,  re- 
mained in  Hingham,  married  there  twice,  and  left,  at  his 
death  in  1771,  a  very  numerous  posterity,  his  two  sons  hav- 
ing each  presented  him  with  thirteen  grandchildren. 

Sarah,  the  elder  daughter,  born  29  July,  1694,  married 
Daniel  Tower  of  Hingham,  and  died  7  July,  1754,  aged  sixty. 

Elizabeth,  the  younger  daughter,  married  Ambrose  Cole, 
Jr.,  of  Scituate,  29  December,  1720,  and,  as  her  gravestone 
testifies,  died  14  September,  1724,  aged  twenty-one. 

Jacob  Lincoln,  the  youngest  child  and  only  son  by  the  sec- 
ond marriage,  was  baptised  23  May,  1708,  at  Scituate.1  He 
married,  first,  Mary  Holbrook,  who  died  27  November,  1749, 
aged  thirty-seven  years  and  ten  months.    She  was  buried  at 

Cohasset.   He  married  again  Susanna .   By  his  first  wife 

he  had  nine  children,  all  but  three  of  whom  were  baptised  at 
Hingham.  There  is  a  tradition  that  he  removed  to  Lancaster, 
Mass., "late  in  life,"  and  his  name  disappears  from  the  Hing- 
ham registers  after  the  baptism  of  his  youngest  child  by  his 
first  wife,  25  November,  1749;  but  no  trace  of  him  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Lancaster  records. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  second  son  of  Mordecai  and  Sarah 
(Jones)  Lincoln  of  Hingham,  Mass.,  was  born  there  1  3  Janu- 
ary, 1688—89.  He  removed,  with  his  elder  brother  Mordecai, 
to  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey,  and  there,  1 1  February, 

'  The  Scituate  town  records  have  unfortunately  perished.  This  date  is 
from  the  First  Church  register  there. 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         67 

1722,  he  purchased  240  acres  of  land  in  Crosswick,  of  Safety 
Boyden,  and  again,  three  years  later,  1 5  March,  1725,  another 
200  acres  in  the  same  place,  of  Abraham  Van  Horn.  These 
lands  he  sold,  20  February,  1737,  to  Thomas  Williams. 

Like  his  father  and  brother,  he  was  an  iron  founder.  He 
afterward  removed  to  Springfield,  Chester  County  (the  part 
now  in  Delaware  County),  Penn.,  where  he  died  in  1745. 
His  will,  dated  1 5  April,  was  proved  29  April  of  that  year. 

He  had  wife  Rebecca ,  who  was  still  living  in  1735, 

but  died  before  him. 

ABRAHAM  and  REBECCA  ( )   LINCOLN  had 

issue  seven  children. 

I.  Abraham  Lincoln,  who,  by  wife  Anne,  had  three 
daughters :  viz.  Rebecca,  who  married,  7  March,  1 763,  James 
Carter,1  merchant,  of  Philadelphia,  and  was  still  livingin  1772, 
but  died  before  1793  ;  Anne,  born  8  August  and  baptised  23 
September,  1753,  at  Kingssessing,  Penn.;  and  Hester,  who 
died  young  before  1 772.    Abraham  died  after  February,  1 747. 

II.  Isaac  Lincoln,  married  at  Christ  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, 30  December,  1746,  Mary  Shute.  He  was  of  the 
Northern  Liberties  of  Philadelphia,  and  died  before  1758. 
He  probably  left  no  issue. 

III.  Rebecca  Lincoln,  married  at  Christ  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, 19  September,  1750,  Joseph  Rush2  of  Philadelphia 

1  Will  of  James  Carter  of  Abington,  gentleman,  dated  22  July,  proved  15 
August,  1795,  names  eldest  daughter  Hester,  wife  of  Roland  Parry  (Exor.), 
and  younger  daughter  Elizabeth  Carter,  sister  Sarah  Ferrill,  grandson  Carter 
Parry,  brother  William.  Wife  not  named,  and  probably  deceased.  Witnesses: 
James  Glen  and  Thomas  Livezey.   Recorded  Philadelphia,  Book  X,  fo.  313. 

2  Son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Hodges)  Rush  of  the  well-known  Quaker 
family  of  that  name.  William,  the  father,  was  son  of  William,  the  eldest  son 
of  John  Rush,  commander  of  a  troop  of  horse  in  Cromwell's  army,  who  mar- 
ried at  Horton  in  Oxfordshire,  England,  Susanna  Lucus,  8  June,  1648,  be- 
came a  convert  to  Fox  in  1660,  and  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1683  with 
his  family.  (See  Penn.  Mag.,  vol.  xvii,  p.  325  ;  Alden's  Am.  Epitaphs,  vol.  i, 
no.  174.) 


68      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

(born  3  January,  171 9-20,  died  20  December,  1 798 ),  by  whom 
she  had  four  children.  She  died  and  he  married,  secondly, 
Elizabeth  Hilton,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children. 

IV.  Jacob  Lincoln,  born  1725.  Of  Kingssessing,  Phila- 
delphia County.  Scythe-maker.  He  married  in  Kingssessing, 
June,  1 747,  Anne  Rambo  (born  1725, died  8  February,  1 819), 
by  whom  he  had  six  children  :  1.  Catarina,  2.  John,  3.  Re- 
becca, 4.  Moses,  5.  Mary,  6.  Jacob;  all  of  whom,  with  the 
exception  of  Moses,  were  baptised  at  Kingssessing.  He  died 
5  June,  1769,  aged  forty-four.  His  descendants  are  still  living 
in  Eastern  Pennsylvania. 

V.  Sarah  Lincoln,  probably  died  young. 
VI.  John  Lincoln,  probably  born  about  1732.  Was  living, 
and  then  under  fourteen,  in  1745,  and  of  Amity,  Philadelphia 
County,  "single  man,"  in  1759. 

VII.  Mordecai  Lincoln,  born  about  May,  1734,  baptised 
at  Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  3  August,  1735,  "aged  15 
months."  He  was  living  in  1745,  but  then  absent  from  Penn- 
sylvania. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  consideration  of  the  elder  line 
and  the  direct  ancestry  of  the  President. 

Mordecai  Lincoln,  the  eldest  son  of  Mordecai  and  Sarah 
(Jones)  Lincoln,  was  born  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  24  April, 
1 686.  He  removed  to  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey,  with 
his  brother  Abraham,  probably  in  the  first  decade  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  but  certainly  before  1714.1  We  find  him 
29  February,  1720,  being  then  of  Freehold,  acquiring  by  deed 
of  Richard  Salter2  four  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  Mache- 

1  See  will  of  Capt.  John  Bowne  of  Middletown,  N.  J.,  in  account  of  Bowne 
family  in  Cognate  Families,  p.  95. 

2  His  father-in-law.  These  grants  probably  represent  his  wife's  marriage 
portion. 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         69 

ponix  River1  in  Middlesex  County,  and  six  years  later,  26 
May,  1726,  another  one  hundred  acres  from  the  same  Rich- 
ard Salter ;  but  he  was  then  resident  in  Coveutry,  Chester 
County,  Penn.,  where  he  had  entered  into  a  partnership  with 
Samuel  Nutt2  in  the  business  of  mining  and  forging  iron  — a 
business  which  he  had  learned  from  his  father.  He  was  in 
fact  interested  in  Coventry  as  early  as  1721,  when  we  find 
him  on  the  earliest  tax  list  of  that  place.3 

This  partnership  was  not  a  long  one,  for,  14  December, 
1725,  he  sold  for  ^500  his  one-third  interest  in  all  "the 
Mynes  and  Mineralls,  Forges,  Buildings,  Houses,  Lands  and 
Improvements"  held  under  articles  of  agreement  with  Samuel 
Nutt,  to  William  Branson4  of  Philadelphia,  merchant,  who 
continued  his  interest  in  the  business  until  his  death  in  1760, 
having  previously  vested  his  four  daughters  and  their  children 
in  the  property,  from  whom  it  passed,  between  1778  and 
1783,  to  Rutter  and  Potts  of  the  Warwick  Furnace. 

1  A  small  stream  which  rises  near  English  Town,  Monmouth  County,  passes 
into  Middlesex  County,  running  north  between  Jamesburg  and  Old  Bridge,  and 
empties  into  South  River  (a  branch  of  the  Raritan).  Macheponix  is  an  Indian 
word  meaning  "bad  bread,"  /'.  e.  poor  land. 

2  Samuel  Nutt  was  from  Coventry,  county  Warwick,  England,  and  came  to 
Pennsylvania  about  1714.  He  bought  iron  ore  lands  so  early  as  17 17  in  War- 
wick township,  and  in  1720  in  Coventry,  and  at  once  began  the  erection  of 
forges  there.  See  History  of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  p.  344  ;  Acrclius's 
History  of  New  Sweden. 

*  Wrongly  entered  as  Mordecaj  Linerwood,  but  corrected  next  year,  1722, 
to  Lincoln. 

4  William  Branson  was  the  son  of  Nathaniel  Branson  of  Sonning,  county 
Berks,  England,  shoemaker,  who  had  purchased  1250  acres  of  land  from  Wil- 
liam Penn,  although  he  never  came  to  reside  in  America.  He  conveyed  this 
land  by  deed,  28  August,  1707,  to  his  son  William,  who  came,  early  in  1708, 
in  the  "  Golden  Lyon  "  to  Pennsylvania.  In  1709,  he  resided  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  east  side  of  Second  Street,  being  then  called  joiner,  in  1 720  shopkeeper, 
and  1726  merchant.  He  had  acquired,  before  1741,  over  3400  acres  of  land 
in  Berks  and  Chester  counties. 

s  The  celebrated  Franklin  Stoves,  invented  by  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin,  were 


7o      THE   ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

In  1 727  Mordecai  Lincoln,  with  Benjamin  Boone  and  others, 
was  appointed  viewer  of  Tulpehocken  road  from  the  Schuyl- 
kill River  to  Oley.  He  finally  removed  to  Amity  in  Phila- 
delphia County,  where  he  died  in  1736.  He  is  called  "  Gent." 
in  his  inventory,  so  we  may  infer  that  the  iron  industry  had 
prospered. 

He  married  twice:  first,  before  1714,1  Hannah,  daughter 
of  Richard  and  Sarah  (Bowne)  Salter,  of  Freehold,  N.  J., 
by  whom  he  had  an  only  son,  John  (the  ancestor  of  the 

President),  and  five  daughters;  secondly,  Mary ,  whose 

surname  is  unknown,2  by  whom  he  had  three  children  (one 
of  them  posthumous),  and  who,  surviving  him,  became  his 
residuary  legatee  and  executrix.  She  had  married  again,  be- 
fore 17  January,  1742,  Roger  Rogers,3  as,  at  that  date,  she 
gave  power  of  attorney  to  her  stepson-in-law,  William  Tall- 
man,  to  sell  for  her,  as  executrix,  the  one  hundred  acres  left 
by  her  husband  to  his  two  younger  daughters.  This  sale  was 
consummated  1  o  May,  1 74 3 ,  to  one  James  Abrahams  for  X40, 
and  in  it  she  is  named  as  "widow  and  sole  executrix,  being 
now  the  wife  of  Rodger  Rodgers."4 

Mordecai  Lincoln's  will,5  dated  22  February,  1735—36, 
"  being  then  sick,"  was  proved  7  June  following.  By  it  he  left 

made  at  the  Warwick  Furnace  by  Robert  Grace  about  1742,  to  whom  Dr. 
Franklin  had  given  the  model.   See  Autobiography  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 

1  See  will  of  Capt.  John  Bowne  in  account  of  Salter  and  Bowne  families. 

2  Said  to  have  been  Robeson  by  Miss  M.  J.  Roe  of  Gilbert,  Ohio,  on  authority 
of  MS.  of  Dr.  William  H.  Egle. 

3  At  Gwynned  Monthly  Meeting,  I  /  26/  1 745,  it  was  reported  that  "  Roger 
Rogers  owns  the  Discipline  established  amongst  us  but  acknowledged  the  way 
too  straight  for  him  to  walk  in,"  and  was  therefore  disowned,  but  as  this  Meet- 
ing did  not  then  have  authority  over  Exeter  and  Amity,  this  may  not  refer  to 
the  husband  of  Mary  Lincoln.  —  MSS.  Gilbert  Cope. 

4  Roger  Rogers  died  intestate,  and  administration  was  granted  to  Mary,  his 
relict,  22  December,  1758. 

5  Registered  Philadelphia,  Book  E,  p.  370.   See  Appendix. 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         71 

to  Mordecai,  his  eldest  son  by  his  second  wife,  half  of  his 
land  in  Amity ;  to  Thomas,  the  second  son  of  the  same  wife, 
the  other  half,  provided  that,  if  the  said  wife  prove  with  child, 
the  estate  was  to  be  divided  into  three  equal  portions.   She  did 

so  prove,  and  the  posthumous  son,  Abraham,  shared  the  pro- 
perty with  his  brothers  of  the  whole  blood.  John  Lincoln, 
the  eldest  son  and  the  only  one  by  the  first  wife,  received 
three  hundred  of  the  four  hundred  acres  of  his  mother's  mar- 
riage portion,  the  other  one  hundred  being  divided  between 
the  two  youngest  daughters,  Anne  and  Sarah.  His  friends  and 
neighbours,  Jonathan  Robeson '  and  George  Boone,2  were  made 
trustees  and  his  wife  Mary  sole  executrix  and  tutor  to  the 
minor  children. 

Mary  Rogers,  the  widow,  was  still  living  10  June,  1776, 
when  a  petition  for  a  sale  of  property  was  returned,  which  was 
confirmed  in  April,  1777,  and  she  acted  as  administratrix  of 

1  Jonathan  Robeson  was  third  son  of  Andrew  Robeson  of  Amity  township, 
Philadelphia  County.  Will  of  Andrew  Robeson,  dated  1719-20,  proved  27 
February,  1  7 19-20  (Registered  Philadelphia,  Book  D,  p.  145),  mentions  lands  in 
Roxborrow  and  Neversink.  Jonathan  was  born  at  Philadelphia,  1684,  member 
Pennsylvania  Assembly,  1735,  owned  and  worked  several  iron  furnaces  in  Berks 
County,  removed  to  New  Jersey,  1760,  first  Judge  of  Sussex  County,  and  died 
at  Upper  Dublin,  Penn.,  in  1 766.  Andrew,  the  father,  of  New  Jersey  and  Sumac 
Park,  Philadelphia,  was  born  in  Scotland,  1653.  One  of  the  Proprietors  of  West 
New  Jersey  by  deed  of  William  Penn  in  1676,  member  of  Council  of  Proprietors 
there,  1688-93,  Justice  at  Gloucester,  1689,  and  Surveyor  General,  1689  an(* 
1694.  In  1676  was  of  Clonmel,  Ireland,  but  late  of  London,  merchant.  One 
Samuel  Robeson  in  his  will,  dated  21  September,  proved  15  October,  1699, 
names  his  cousin  Andrew  Robeson  of  West  Jersey  and  uncles  Thomas  and 
David  Robeson  of  Scotland.   (See  Am.  Ancestry,  v,  1 7 1 ,  and  MSS.  Gilbert  Cope.) 

2  The  earliest  connection  shown  with  the  family  of  the  intrepid  explorer  who 
was  afterward  to  exercise  so  malign  an  influence  on  his  posterity. 


72      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

the  estate  of  her  second  son,  Thomas  Lincoln,  in  June,  1775. 
She  died  in  1783,  intestate,  and  her  estate  was  administered 
25  March  of  that  year  by  her  eldest  son,  Mordecai  Lincoln. 

MORDECAI  and  HANNAH  (SALTER)  LINCOLN 
had  issue  six  children. 

I.  John  Lincoln,  born  3  May,  171 1.  Of  whom  hereafter. 

II.  Deborah  Lincoln, born  January,  171 7, buried  at  Allen- 
town,  N.  J.,  1 5  May,  1720,  aged  three  years  and  four  months.1 

III.  Hannah  Lincoln  had  lands  on  the  Macheponix  in 
New  Jersey  by  deed  of  gift  from  her  father  before  1735. 
She  married  Joseph  Millard  of  Amity,  Philadelphia  County, 
before  15  December,  1742,  when  he  joins  her  in  deed  of  her 
moiety  of  her  father's  gift,2  to  William  Tallman  (vide  in- 
fra). She  was  dead  before  1769,  when  Joseph  Millard,  then 
called  Esquire,  was  of  Union  township.3  They  had  children  : 
1.  Mordecai ;  2.  Joseph;    3.  James;  and  4.  Barbara. 

IV.  Mary  Lincoln  had  gift  of  land  jointly  with  her  sister 
Hannah.  She  married  Francis  Yarnall4  of  Amity,  cord- 
wainer  (born  27  September,  1 7 1 9),  before  1  o  May,  1 743,  when 

1  Gravestone  still  remaining  at  Allentown. 

2  Trenton  Deeds  ;  see  Appendix. 

3  Quitclaim  deed  of  John  Lincoln  of  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  and  the  heirs 
of  his  father,  Mordecai  Lincoln,  deed.,  to  Abraham  his  half-brother.  This  deed 
seems  never  to  have  been  registered  ;  for  reference  to  it  I  have  to  thank  Miss 
M.  J.  Roe  of  Gilbert,  Ohio,  a  descendant  of  the  Tallmans.   See  Appendix. 

4  Complaint  of  his  marriage  "  out  of  meeting"  was  made  at  Exeter  Meeting 
8  mo.  7th,  1742,  and  testimony  formally  made  against  him  10  mo.  30th  of  same 
year  (Book  A,  p.  36).  He  was  son  of  Peter  and  Alice  (Worrilow)  Yarnall 
of  Goshen,  Penn.  Peter  Yarnall,  born  20  October,  1690,  married  25  April, 
17 1 5,  at  Chester,  Alice,  daughter  of  John  and  Ann  (Maris)  Worrilow  of 
Edgmont ;  she  was  disowned  10  March,  1728-29,  and  he  16  November, 
1730,  but  certificate  for  their  children  to  Oley  was  signed  21  July,  1740. 
Peter  was  son  of  Francis  and  Hannah  (Baker)  Yarnall,  who,  with  his  brother 
Philip,  came  to  Pennsylvania  about  1 684  from  Worcestershire,  England,  and 
in  171 1  was  Representative  in  Provincial  Assembly  for  Chester  County.  An- 
other son  of  Francis  and  Hannah  (Baker)  Yarnall,  i.  e.  Joseph  Yarnall,  mar- 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         73 

he  joins  with  her,  and  William  Tallman  and  Anne  his  wife, 
in  the  sale  of  the  entire  tract  of  one  hundred  acres  of  land 
to  Samuel  Leonard.  They  were  both  living  and  of  Reading 
in  1769. 

V.  Anne  Lincoln,  born  8  March,  1725.  Legatee  with  her 
sister  Sarah  of  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  New  Jersey.  She 
married,  20  October,  17 — ,x  William  Tallman  2  of  Amity 
(born  25  March,  1720,  died  13  February,  17913),  who  joins 
with  her  and  her  sister  Mary  in  deed  of  May,  1743.  They 
removed  to  Virginia  with  the  Lincolns  about  1768,  lived 
on  Smith's  Run  at  foot  of  Massanutten  Mountain,  Augusta 
(now  Rockingham)  County,  Virginia,  in  sight  of  the  Lincoln 
homestead.  They  had  eleven  children,  who  all  died  young 
except  a  son,  Benjamin  Tallman  of  Ohio  (born  9  January, 
1745,  died  4  June,  1820),  who  married,  9  November,  1764, 
Dinah  Boone4  (born  10  May,  1749,  died  25  July,  1824). 
Anne  Lincoln  Tallman  died  22  December, .5 

ried  22  September,  1748,  at  Exeter,  Elizabeth  Boone,  probably  widow  of 
Samuel  Boone,  uncle  of  Daniel,  who  had  died  6  August,  1 745,  leaving  a  widow 
of  that  name.  MSS.  Gilbert  Cope,  of  West  Chester,  Penn. ;  see  also  Smith's 
History  of  Delaware  County,  p.  518. 

1  Date  obliterated  in  record. 

*  Son  of  Benjamin  and  Patience  (Durfee)  Tallman  of  Warwick,  R.  I., 
legatee  of  twenty  shillings  in  will  of  his  father,  dated  5  July,  1755,  proved 
13  August,  1759.  Benjamin  Tallman,  the  father,  born  28  January,  1684, 
being  son  of  Peter  Tallman  of  Portsmouth,  R.  I.,  by  his  second  wife,  Joan 
Briggs  of  Taunton,  Mass.,  and  who  was  freeman  in  Newport,  1655,  died  1 708, 
and  administration  granted  to  his  son  Jonathan,  3  May,  1709.  Austin's  Gen. 
Diet.  R.  /.,  N.  E.  Reg.,  vol.  xli,  p.  157,  and  Tallman  Family  Bible,  transcribed 
by  Miss  M.  J.  Roe,  ut  supra.     See  also  Durfee  Genealogy  for  fuller  detail. 

3  The  year  was  obliterated  in  the  record,  but  is  restored  by  reference,  in  deed 
recorded  in  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania,  to  his  will  as  proved  in  Rockingham 
County,  Virginia,  in  that  year. 

4  Daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Susanna  Boone,  the  uncle  of  Daniel.  See 
account  of  Boone  family  in  Cognate  Families,  p.  98. 

5  Year  obliterated  in  record  —  about  1812. 


74      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

VI.  Sarah  Lincoln,  born  about  April,  1727,  was  a  lega- 
tee, with  her  sister  Anne,  of  one  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the 
Macheponix,  which  was  sold  by  her  brother-in-law,  William 
Tallman,  10  May,  1743,  under  power  of  attorney  from  Mary 
Rogers,  her  stepmother  and  the  executrix  of  their  father's  will. 
She  married  in  Quaker  Meeting  William  Boone1  (born  18 
November,  1724,  died  1771),  her  marriage  being  reported  as 
"orderly"  by  the  Exeter  Monthly  Meeting,  26  May,  1748. 
She  died  2 1  April,  1 8 1  o,  aged  eighty-three  years,  two  months, 
and  odd  days.2 

MORDECAI  and  MARY  ( )  LINCOLN  had  three 

children. 

VII.  Mordecai  Lincoln,  born  9  May,  1730,  legatee  of 
lands  in  Amity  by  his  father's  will.  He  was  taxed  in  Berks 
County  in  1752,  was  Quartermaster  in  Continental  Army, 
and  was  of  Exeter,  10  June,  1776,  being  named  in  petition  of 
his  mother,  Mary  Rogers  (vide  infra),  on  whose  estate  he  after- 
ward administered,  25  March,  1783.  He  had  married  in  1755 
Mary  Webb,  by  whom  he  had  issue  five  children,  who  all 
settled  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  of  Virginia.3  After  the  Re- 
volution he  removed  to  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  died  in  1 8 1 2,  aged  eighty-two,  and  was  buried  at  Union- 
town.  Children  were:  1.  Benjamin,  born  29  November, 
1756;  2.  John,  born  28  March,  1758;  3.  Ann,  born  22 
November,  1759,  married  William  Jones;  4.  Hannah,4  born 
31  December,  1761 ;  5.   Sarah,  born  25  February,  1767. 

1  Son  of  George  and  Deborah  (Howell)  Boone  and  own  cousin  of  Daniel. 
See  Boone  family,  p.  98. 

2  Exeter  Meeting  Records. 

3  On  the  authority  of  Miss  M.  J.  Roe  of  Gilbert,  Ohio,  from  Dr.  W.  H. 
Egle  of  Reading,  Penn. 

4  I  believe  that  this  child  represents  the  mysterious  Hannaniah  whom 
we  find  in  Kentucky  in  May,  1785,  assisting  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  son 
Josiah  in  the  survey  of  his  farm  in  Jefferson  County.   Hannaniah  himself  had 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         75 

VIII.  Thomas  Lincoln,  legatee  of  lands  in  Amity  by  his 
father's  will.  Taxed  at  Reading,  1757,  and  at  Exeter,  1759, 
and  was  of  Manheim,  Lancaster  County,  1769.  He  was  Re- 
presentative for  Berks  in  the  Pennsylvania  General  Assembly, 

1758.   He  married  Elizabeth  ,  by  whom   he  had  seven 

children,  all  minors  at  his  death  in  1775,  when,  his  widow 
renouncing,  administration  was  granted  to  his  mother,  Mary 
Rogers,  16  June,  1775.  Her  subsequent  petition  in  Orphans' 
Court  recites,  10  June,  1776,  that  all  were  minors  and  seised 
of  messuage  and  lands  in  Exeter  "adjoining  lands  of  Mor- 
decai  Lincoln."  Children  were  :  1.  Hannah;1  2.  Thomas; 
3.  Michael,  went  to  Buffalo  Valley,  Lewisburg,  Union 
County,  Penn.;  4.  Joseph;  5.  Sarah;  6.  Mary;  7.  Elizabeth. 
IX.  Abraham  Lincoln,  posthumous  son,  born  18  Octo- 
ber, 1736.  He  was  taxed  as  a  single  man  in  1759.  Repre- 
sentative for  Berks  to  the  Pennsylvania  General  Assembly, 
1782—85,  to  the  State  Convention,  1787,  and  to  the  State 
Constitutional  Convention,  1 790.  He  married,  1  o  July,  1 760, 
Anne  Boone  (born  3  April,  1737,  died  4  April,  1807), 
daughter  of  James  and  Mary  (Foulke)  Boone  of  Oley.2  He 
died  at  Exeter,  31  March,  1806,  aged  seventy.  Had  issue  ten 
children:3  1.  Mary,  born  15  September,  1 76 1  ;  2.  Martha, 
born  25  January,  1763;   3.   Mordecai,  born  January,  1765, 

already,  17  January,  1783,  entered  8972^  acres,  and  22  April,  1785,  there  had 
been  surveyed  for  him  1 000  acres  more  (Boone's  Survey  Book,  25C84,  p.  32 
and  26C45).  He  was  said  to  have  afterward  joined  Boone  in  his  Missouri  pur- 
chase in  1798  (Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  i,  p.  5).   But  see  note  following.    J.  H.  L. 

1  Dr.  H.  E.  Robinson,  late  President  of  the  Missouri  Historical  Society,  has 
stated  that  this  Hannaniab  was  a  son,  served  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  the  Han- 
naniah  whom  we  find  with  Abraham  Lincoln  in  Kentucky  {Mo.  Hist.  Review, 
vol.  i,  p.  72).  He  cites  no  proof,  however,  and  I  incline  to  believe  that  the  identi- 
fication above  with  the  eldest  child  of  Mordecai  is  the  correct  one.     J.  H.  L. 

2  Uncle  of  Daniel  Boone,  who  was  son  of  Squire  Boone,  elder  brother  of 
James.  See  account  of  the  Boone  family  in  Cognate  Families,  p.  98. 

3  His  descendants  are  still  numerous  in  Pennsylvania. 


76      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

died  1820,  and  administration  granted  23  November  to  bro- 
thers John  and  Thomas  Lincoln;  4.  James,  born  5  May, 
1 767, !  died  1  86 1 ;  5.  Anne,  born  1 9  April,  1 769 ;  6.  Rachel, 
born  24  March,  1 77 1 ,  died  1  jj^  ;  7.  Phebe,  born  22  January, 
1773;  8.  Anne,  born  19  October,  1774;  9.  Thomas,  born 
12  March,  1777,  died  1863;  10.  John,  born  21  October, 
1779,  died  1864. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  consideration  of  the  main  line 
of  the  President's  ancestry. 

John  Lincoln,  the  eldest  son  of  Mordecai  and  Hannah 
(Salter)  Lincoln,  born  3  May,  171 1,2  was  called  "Virginia 
John"  to  distinguish  him  from  his  first  cousin  of  the  same 
name,  the  son  of  Abraham  and  Rebecca  Lincoln.  In  1748 
he  sold  the  New  Jersey  lands  which  had  been  willed  him 
by  his  father,  being  then  of  Caernarvon,  Lancaster  County, 
Penn.,  weaver.3  In  1758  he  was  of  Uniontown,  but  was 
taxed  for  lands  in  Exeter  the  same  year  and  in  Amity  in  1 759. 
Before  August,  1768,4  he  had  removed  to  Virginia,  being 
then  about  fifty-seven  years  of  age,  and  settled  in  the  fertile 
Shenandoah  Valley  in  Augusta  County  (the  part  now  in  Rock- 
ingham County),5  a  few  miles  north  of  the  present  town  of 
Harrisonburg,  where  he  was  still  surviving  in  August,  1773,6 

1  David  J.  Lincoln  of  Birdsboro,  Penn.,  well  known  as  an  authority  on  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  the  Lincoln  family,  and  who  died  10  April,  1886,  aged 
seventy  years,  was  a  son  of  this  James  Lincoln. 

2  This  date  on  the  authority  of  Miss  M.  J.  Roe,  from  Dr.  W.  H.  Egle. 

3  Deed  8  November,  1748,  of  300  acres  on  Cranberry  Brook,  A4iddlesex 
County,  N.  J.,  to  William  Dve  for  ,£200.   Recorded  at  Trenton. 

4  Deed  16  August,  1768,  from  heirs  of  Robert  McKay  to  John  Lincoln  of 
600  acres  on  Linvill's  Creek,  Augusta  County,  Va.,  being  part  of  land  patented 
to  McKay  and  others  in  1739.  Recorded  at  Staunton,  Va. ;  see  Appendix. 

s  Rockingham  was  set  off  from  Augusta  in  1777. 

6  Deeds  at  Staunton  as  follows  :  John  Lincoln  and  Rebecca  his  wife  for  210 
acres  land,  7  August,  1773,  to  Abraham  Lincoln  for  5  shillings,  ditto  from  same 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         77 

and  where  he  probably  died.  It  was  believed  by  the  President, 
upon  "a  vague  tradition,"  that  his  great-grandfather,  John 
Lincoln,  was  a  Quaker.1  It  would  appear  that  such  was  not 
the  case,  nor,  except  in  sporadic  instances,  were  the  family. 

^         (seal) 

The  intimacy  and  frequent  intermarriages  with  the  Boones 
and  others  who  were  so,  sufficiently  accounts  for  this  tradition. 

Children  of  JOHN  and  REBECCA  ( 2)  LINCOLN. 

I.  John  Lincoln,  lived  and  died  in  Rockingham  County, 
Virginia.    He  was  a  surveyor.    Married  and  left  issue. 

II.  Thomas  Lincoln,  removed  to  Kentucky  near  Lexing- 
ton and  died  there.   His  children  removed  to  Missouri. 

III.  Abraham  Lincoln,  born  16  July,  1739.  Of  w bom 
hereafter. 

IV.  Isaac  Lincoln,  removed  to  Tennessee  and  settled  on 
the  Holston  River  at  Watauga.   Married  and  had  issue.3 

V.  Jacob  Lincoln,  remained  in  Virginia.  Lieutenant  in 
Continental  Army.   He  married  and  had  issue:  — 

1 .  Abraham  of  Linvill's  Creek,  married  Polly  Horman  and 

to  Isaac  Lincoln,  215  acres,  same  consideration,  11  August,  deed  of  lease  and 
release  from  same  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  12  August,  and  ditto  to  Isaac  Lincoln 
from  same  on  same  date.   See  Appendix. 

1  Hon.  Solomon  Lincoln  in  N.   E.   Hist.   Gen.  Reg.,  October,  1865,  vol. 

xix,  P-357- 

2  Family  tradition  has  assigned  the  name  of  Moore  to  this  wife.    The  initial 

"  R  "  given  her  by  some  writers  was  only  her  "  mark."    See  facsimile. 

3  In  1854  Abraham  Lincoln  corresponded  with  Jesse  Lincoln,  son  of  Isaac, 
then  of  Tennessee.  See  letter  1  April,  1854,  in  Complete  Works,  vol.  i,  p.  177, 
edited  by  Nicolay  and  Hay. 


78      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

had  three  daughters  :  Amanda,  married  John  Brock ;  Eliza- 
beth,   married,    first,    Dr.  Maupin  and,   second,  Hon. 

John  D.  Pennypacker;  Rebecca,  married  Dr.  Chap- 
man. 2.  Jacob,  of  Linvill's  Creek,  married  Nancy  Line- 
berger  and   had  John;  David;  Jacob  B.1  of  Nelson  County, 

Virginia;  Dorcas,  married Prense  of  Page  County;  and 

perhaps  others.    3.  David  of  Lacey's  Spring,2  married 

Horman  and  had  Franklin,  Jacob,  Abraham,  and  perhaps 
others.  4.  Elizabeth,  married  Joseph  Chrisman,  who  removed 
to  Lafayette,  Mo.  5.  Abigail,  married  Joseph  Coffman  of 
Dayton,  Va.    6.   A  daughter  who  married  John  Strayer  of 

New  Market,  Va.    7.   A  daughter  who  married Evans 

of  Page  County.   8.   A  daughter  who  married Dyer  of 

Pendleton  County.  Jacob  Lincoln,  the  father,  served  as  a 
lieutenant  in  the  Continental  Army  and  died  in  Rockingham 
County,  Virginia. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  third  son  of  John  and  Rebecca 
( )  Lincoln,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  16  July,  1739,3 

1  The  descendants  of  Jacob  Lincoln  are  given  on  the  authority  of  Mrs. 
Jacob  B.  Lincoln  of  Tye  River,  Nelson  County,  Virginia,  widow  of  Jacob  B. 
and  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Maupin  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln,  daughter  of  Abra- 
ham of  Linvill's  Creek. 

2  With  whom  President  Lincoln  corresponded  in  1848,  when  a  member  of 
Congress,  on  the  subject  of  his  family.  See  letter  2  April,  1848,  in  Nicolay  and 
Hay,  Complete  Works,  vol.  i,  p.  117. 

3  The  authority  for  this  date,  as  well  as  those  of  the  births  of  the  three  sons 
of  Abraham,  is  an  article  on  the  Lincoln  Family  which  was  published  in  a  paper 
entitled  The  Sunny  South,  printed  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  in  1888,  and  the  exact  dates 
in  which  bear  every  appearance  of  having  been  taken  from  some  treasured 
family  record,  and  are  therefore  entitled  to  some  credence  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  author  wrongly  locates  the  family  in  Botetourt  County,  Virginia,  over 
100  miles  to  the  south  of  the  actual  location,  and  which  county  had  not,  at  that 
period,  been  set  off  from  Augusta.  It  is,  most  unfortunately,  now  impossible 
to  identify  the  writer  of  this  article,  for  calling  attention  to  which  we  have 
to  thank  Mrs.  Caroline  Hanks  Hitchcock  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  who  has  done 
so  much  to  aid  our  labours. 


THE   AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         79 

and  accompanied  his  father  to  Virginia  as  a  young  man.  He 
had  a  grant  of  210  acres  of  land  from  him,  12  August,  1773, 
on  Linvill's  Creek  in  Augusta 
(now  Rockingham)  County.  He 
was  a  captain  of  Virginia  Militia  a^TZ-*^ 
in  the  Revolution '  and  seems  to 
have  been  prosperous,  but  the  restless  fever  of  the  pioneer 
was  in  his  veins,  and,  incited  by  the  narratives  of  his  kins- 
man, Daniel  Boone,  he  sold  his  patrimony  in  the  Shenan- 
doah Valley  in  1780,  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  explorer 
into  the  wilds  of  Kentucky. 

He  married,  first,  Mary  Shipley,2  daughter  of  Robert  and 
Sarah  Shipley  of  Lunenburg  County,  Virginia,  the  mother 
of  his  elder  children  ;  she  died  in  Virginia  at  some  time  pre- 
vious to  1779. 

His  second  wife,  Bathsheba  Herring,3  daughter  of  Leon- 
ard Herring  of  Bridgewater,  now  in  Rockingham  County, 


d?£&o/tfjx£   c^C^cCo- 


Virginia,  was  left  behind  when  Abraham  made  his  first  venture 
into  the  wilderness  in  1780.  Indeed  it  seems  open  to  doubt  if 
she  ever  crossed  the  mountains  into  Kentucky. 

1  His  name  so  appears  in  a  court-martial  held  at  Staunton,  1776  (Husting 
Court  Records),  which  he  signs  as  Abraham  Linkhorn. 

2  The  first  authority  for  the  Shipley  connection  was  Hon.  J.  L.  Nail  of 
Missouri,  the  great-grandson  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  his  youngest  daughter, 
Nancy  Lincoln  Brumfield.  This  has  since  been  amply  corroborated  from  both 
family  and  outside  sources.  See  Shipley  genealogy  in  Cognate  Families,  p. 
105  ;  Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  i,  p.  5,  note. 

3  For  the  first  clue  to  the  hitherto  unsuspected  identity  of  Bathsheba  Her- 
ring I  have  to  thank  my  valued  friend  and  correspondent,  Major  George  Chris- 
man  of  Harrisonburg,  Va.,  a  venerable  and  respected  citizen  of  that  place  and 
himself  a  sharer  in  the  blood  of  the  Herring  family.  See  Herring  genealogy 
in  Cognate  Families,  p.  108.   J.  H.L. 


80      THE   ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

Until  very  recently  it  had  been  believed  that  Mary  Shipley, 
the  first  wife,  was  the  mother  of  all  of  Abraham's  children,  but 
the  consideration  of  the  following  facts  will  show  convincing 
evidence  to  the  contrary. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  the  youngest  son  and  probably  youngest 
child  of  Abraham,  was  born  20  January,  1780.1  The  1  8th  of 
February  following  Abraham  Lincoln  and  "Bershaba"2  his 
wife  deeded  250  acres  of  land3  to  one  Michael  Shanks  for 
^5000,  and  this  was  recorded  17  June  following,  but  without 
the  privy  examination  and  renunciation  of  dower  by  the  wife 
who,  with  an  infant  less  than  one  month  old,  had  been  unable 
to  travel  twelve  miles  over  the  rough  road  which  separated  the 
Lincoln  home  from  the  County  Court  House.  Her  inability 
seems  to  have  continued,  for,  nineteen  months  later,  8  Septem- 
ber, 178 1,  a  commission  was  issued  for  her  examination,  "she 
being  then  unable  to  travel  to  the  County  Court,"  and  this 
was  executed  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month  and  returned 
into  court  the  same  day.4 

Meanwhile  Abraham  Lincoln  had  gone  into  Kentucky, 
perhaps  not  his  first  journey  over  the  perilous  Wilderness 
Road,5  and,  4  March,  1780,  paid  into  the  Land  Office  there 

1  Ut  supra.  Sunny  South. 

2  So  first  written  in  the  deed,  afterward  Basheba  and,  in  the  commission, 
Barbara.  She  signs  as  Batsab.  See  facsimile  and  full  copy  of  deed  in  Ap- 
pendix. 

3  Being  the  210  acres  given  him  by  his  father,  12  August,  1773,  and 
another  tract  of  40  acres  which  had  been  deeded  to  him  by  Tunis  Vanpelt, 
Thomas  Bryan,  and  Hatton  Muncey.  See  deed  in  Appendix. 

4  Publicity  was  first  given  to  this  most  valuable  document  by  the  late  Judge 
John  T.  Harris  of  Harrisonburg  in  Century  Magazine,  vol.  xxxiii,  p.  810  ;  but 
its  full  significance  seems  never  to  have  been  appreciated,  and  the  later  his- 
torians and  biographers  of  the  President  have  continued  to  record  Mary  Shipley 
as  his  grandmother.   See  Appendix,  p.  187. 

5  See  Speed's  Wilderness  Road,  published  by  the  Filson  Club,  Louisville, 
Ky.,  1900. 


THE   AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         81 

/ 1 60  of  the  £5000  received  for  his  patrimony,  for  a  warrant 
of  400  acres  of  land  in  Jefferson  County.1 

Prior  to  this,  however,  Boone's  Survey  Book2  shows  an 
entry  in  July,  1 776,  of  1 000  acres  of  land  to  "  Lincoln  " 3  and 
which  we  may  well  believe  records  a  "stake"  planted  for  his 
friend  and  kinsman  on  one  of  the  explorer's  early  trips  into 
the  wilderness.  As  we  have  already  seen,  on  Lincoln's  arrival 
in  Kentucky  on  what  was  probably  his  first  scouting  trip  to 
the  new  land,  he  had  promptly  entered  400  acres  on  which 
he  subsequently  settled  and  erected  his  cabin  ;  a  few  days  later, 
7  June,  1 780,  he  took  up  800  acres  more  on  the  Green  River,4 
and  again  (after  his  return  with  his  family),  11  December, 
1782,  another  500 5  acres  and,  at  a  subsequent  but  indetermi- 
nate date,  yet  another  500,6  one  of  which  last  was  probably 
identical  with  the  500-acre  tract  in  Campbell  County  (near 
the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati),  but  which  was  not 
surveyed  until  27  September,  1798,  and  patented  30  June, 
1799,  long  subsequent  to  his  death7 — in  all  some  3200  acres, a 
goodly  domain  of  the  finest  farming  land  in  the  world,  which, 
had  all  prospered,  would  have  placed  his  descendants  among 
the  first  in  wealth  and  position  in  their  community  as  the 
wilderness  crystallised  into  an  infant  state.   But,  at  least  for 

1  See  facsimile  from  original  in  possession  of  Col.  Reuben  T.  Durrett  of 
Louisville  (Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  i,  p.  8). 

3  Now  in  the  Lyman  C.  Draper  MSS.  in  the  Library  of  the  State  Hist.  Soc. 
of  Wisconsin.  For  full  and  careful  extracts  of  the  Lincoln  entries  in  this  valu- 
able record  we  are  indebted  to  Miss  Annie  A.  Nunns,  Secretary  to  Dr.  Reuben 
G.  Thwaites,  Superintendent. 

3  Op.  cit.  25C.  36  and  25C.  37:  "taken  to  Richmond  .  .  .  Lincoln  for 
warrant  of  1000  acres,"  both  probably  referring  to  the  same  tract. 

*  As  per  authority  of  Col.  Reuben  T.  Durrett  of  Louisville,  Ky.  See  in 
Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  i,  p.  II. 

s  Boone's  Survey  Book,  25C.  38. 

6  Ibid.,  25C.  p.  32. 

7  Nicolay  and  Hay,  loc.  cit.  note  4. 


82      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

the  hapless  younger  son,  the  bullet  of  the  savage  marauder 
changed  everything. 

One  morning  in  the  early  summer  of  1785,  going  out  to 
his  daily  task,  in  the  fields  with  his  two  elder  sons  and  the 
child  Thomas,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  shot  dead  by  an  Indian 
from  an  ambush  in  the  forest.  The  two  young  men,  aged 
twenty-one  and  nineteen  respectively,  fled — the  elder  to  the 
cabin  and  the  younger  to  the  nearest  stockade,  Fort  Hughes, 
leaving  the  helpless  infant  of  five  years  to  his  fate  beside  his 
father's  body.  As  the  savage  stooped  to  lift  the  terrified  child 
from  the  ground,  Mordecai,  who  had  secured  his  rifle,  shot 
the  Indian  through  the  heart,  and  little  Thomas,  thus  re- 
leased, escaped  to  the  cabin,  where  his  brother  held  the  enemy 
at  bay  until  Josiah  returned  from  the  fort  with  assistance, 
and  the  assailants  fled. 

The  date  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  murder  has  been  variously 
given  by  historians  as  "soon  after  1780"  to  1788  and,  by  the 
President  himself,  from  the  family  tradition,  as  1 784.  A  little 
scrutiny  will  enable  us  to  give  a  close  approximation  to  the 
truth.  The  Certificate  of  the  survey  of  the  Jefferson  County 
tract  of  400  acres,  on  which  he  settled  and  where  he  met  his 
death,  dated  7  May,  1785,  has  been  frequently  quoted  and 
even  printed  in  facsimile,1  but  seems  to  have  been  generally 
misread  and  misunderstood.  This  important  document  shows 
that,  at  its  date,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  still  alive  and  acted  as 
"marker"  to  the  surveyor's  deputy,  William  Shannon,  who 
ran  the  lines,  his  second  son,  Josiah,  and  one  Hannaniah  Lin- 
coln2 acting  as  chainmen.   Here  we  have  absolute  proof  that 

1  Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  i,  p.  14.     Recorded  Louisville,  Book  B,  p.  60. 

2  Hannaniah  Lincoln  seems  to  have  been  the  third  son  and  fourth  child 
of  Mordecai  Lincoln,  half-brother  of  John  Lincoln  (Virginia  John),  being 
the  eldest  child  of  Mordecai  the  elder  by  his  second  wife  Mary,  and  born  31 
December,  176 1  (but  called  Hannah  in  the  records).  This  Hannaniah,  who 
would  have  been  Abraham's  first  cousin  if  this  theory  be  correct,  had  already 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         83 

he  was  alive  in  May,  1785,  and  the  probabilities  all  point  to 
his  death  as  having  taken  place  soon  after.1 

It  has  been  related  that  the  widow,  after  the  murder  of  her 
husband,  took  refuge  among  the  relatives  of  the  Lincolns, 
who  had  now  begun  to  settle  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Beech- 
land  in  Washington  County,  some  thirty-five  miles  to  the 
south,  where  the  more  dense  population  made  safer  residence. 
This  may  be  true,  but  it  has  already  been  shown  that  her  health 
was  delicate,  and  the  rough  journey  with  a  young  child  over 
the  terrible  Wilderness  Road  and  the  rude  life  of  the  frontier 
had  probably  undermined  her  vitality,  and  she  must  have  soon 
succumbed  and  laid  down  a  cross  too  heavy  for  her  strength 
and  added  one  more  tragedy  to  the  pathetic  price  paid  for  the 
conquest  of  the  land  her  grandson  was  one  day  destined  to 
rule  and  save.  Certain  it  is  that,  from  the  relinquishment  of 
her  dower  in  September,  1781,  she  disappears  absolutely  from 
the  records. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  old  English  law  of  primogeni- 
ture then  in  force  in  Kentucky,  the  two  elder  brothers  ousted 
their  infant  half-brother  from  all  his  rights  of  inheritance  in 
his  father's  estate,  his  own  mother,  Bathsheba,  being  then 
almost  certainly  dead,  or  we  may  be  sure  that  he  would  have 
been  protected  at  least  to  the  limit  of  her  own  dower  rights, 
and   the  unhappy  child  was  left  to   the  tender  mercies  of 

entered  large  tracts  of  land  in  Kentucky.  See  notes  under  Mordecai,sonof  John, 
and  Thomas  his  brother,  pp.  74,  75. 

1  The  writer  in  the  Sunny  South,  already  cited  (p.  78),  states,  among  his 
exact  data,  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  forty-six  years  of  age  at  his  death,  which 
agrees  exactly  with  his  birth,  16  July,  1739,3s  there  given.  The  inventory  of 
his  estate  (there  seem  to  have  been  no  papers  of  administration),  dated  10 
March,  1789,  amounted  to  £b%  lbs.  bd.  of  personal  property,  comprising 
two  horses,  eight  neat  cattle,  two  rifles  and  a  shot  gun,  farm  and  house- 
hold implements  and,  last  but  not  least,  the  inevitable  axe.  (See  detailed 
list  in  Tarbell's  History,  vol.  i,  p.  4,  from  original  in  possession  of  Col.  R.  T. 
Durrett.) 


84      THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

strangers  in  a  wilderness  swarming  with  savage  beasts  and  still 
more  savage  men. 

Children  of  ABRAHAM  and  MARY  (SHIPLEY)  LIN- 
COLN. 

I.  Mordecai  Lincoln,  born  1764.1  If  this  date  is  cor- 
rect, he  would  have  been  twenty-one  years  of  age  at  his  father's 
death,  when  he  avenged  him  on  his  savage  murderer.  By  the 
law  of  primogeniture  he  succeeded  to  all  of  the  landed  estate, 
and  with  his  brother  seems  to  have  sequestered  the  personal 
property  as  well.  He  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  a  man  of  mark 
and  influence  in  his  day,  sheriff  of  his  county,2  and  a  Repre- 
sentative in  the  Kentucky  Legislature.3  He  removed  to  How- 
ard County,  Indiana,  and,  about  1828,  to  Hancock  County, 
Illinois,  where  he  died  in  1830.  He  was  married  and  left 
three  sons:    1.  Abraham;  2.  James;  and  3.  Mordecai. 

II.  Josiah  Lincoln,  born  10  July,  1766.  He  was  a  farmer 
in  good  circumstances  for  the  time.4  He  removed  to  Harri- 
son County,  Indiana,  where  he  died  in  18  36.5  He  was  married 
and  left  an  only  son,  Thomas  Lincoln,  late  of  Corydon,  Har- 
rison County,  Ind.6 

1  On  the  authority  of  the  article  in  the  Sunny  South,  already  cited.  This 
article  states  that  there  were  three  daughters,  but  the  name  of  the  third  is  not 
given.    She  probably  died  young. 

3  Tarbell's  History,  ed.  1900,  p.  5. 

3  So  stated  by  the  late  Dr.  C.  C.  Graham  of  Louisville,  a  gentleman  whose 
authority  and  veracity  are  unquestioned.  See  also  Barrett's  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  6. 
There  is  no  mention  of  his  name,  however,  in  any  now  existing  list  of  the 
legislators. 

4  "  I  knew  Mordecai  and  Josiah  Lincoln  intimately.  They  were  excellent 
men,  plain,  moderately  educated,  candid  in  their  manners  and  intercourse  and 
looked  upon  as  honorable  as  any  men  I  have  heard  of."  —  Letter  of  Henry 
Pirtle,  17  June,  1865.   Cited  by  Herndon,  vol.  i,  p.  7. 

s  His  inventory  of  personal  property,  amounting  to  $65.00,  is  filed  (box  49) 
in  the  Probate  Court  of  the  county  for  that  year.  No  other  papers  relating  to 
the  estate  exist. 

6  A  grandson  of  the  name  of  Mordecai  Lincoln  is  now  (1908)  resident  in 


THE  AMERICAN   PEDIGREE         85 

III.  Mary  Lincoln,  married  Ralph  Crume  or  Krume  of 
Kentucky.1 

IV.  Nancy  Lincoln,  married  William  Brumfield  of 
Kentucky. 

Child  of  ABRAHAM  and  BATHSHEBA  (HERRING) 
LINCOLN. 

V.  Thomas  Lincoln,  born  in  Rockingham  County,  Vir- 
ginia, 20  January,  1780.  He  married,  12  June,  1806,  at 
Beechland,   Ky.,    Nancy    Hanks, 

daughter  of  Joseph  and  Nancy  cTjT^^cz^-^^10^^ 
(Shipley)  Hanks  (born  5  February, 

1784),  at  the  house  of  her  aunt  Lucy  (Shipley),  wife  of 
Richard  Berry,  her  guardian,  who  became  surety  on  the 
marriage  bond,  taken  out  two  days  earlier. 

After  two  removals  in  Kentucky  the  family  emigrated  to 
Gentryville,  Spencer  County,  Ind.,  where  he  entered  a  quarter 
section  of  land,  18  October,  18 17,  and  where  his  wife  died  5 
October,  181  8. 2 

He  married,  secondly,  2  December,  18 19,  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  Ky.,  Sarah,  widow  of  Daniel  Johnston,3  of  that  place, 
deceased,  and  she,  surviving  him,  died  10  April,  1869,  at  a 
farm  near  Charleston,  111.,  which  had  been  given  her  by  the 
President.   There  was  no  issue  of  this  marriage. 

Milltown,  Spencer  township,  Harrison  County.  Ut  asserti  Amos  Lemmon  of 
Corydon,  Ind. 

1  Her  grandson,  Hon.  J.  L.  Nail  of  Carthage,  Mo.,  frequently  referred  to  in 
these  pages,  has  been  one  of  the  best  oral  authorities  for  the  facts  of  the  pedi- 
gree. 

2  A  stone  upon  her  grave  bears  the  following  inscription:  "Nancy  Hanks 
Lincoln,  Mother  of  President  Lincoln,  Died  October  5,  18 18.  Age  thirty- 
five  years.  Erected  by  a  friend  of  her  martyred  son.  1879."  (i.e.  Mr.  P.  E. 
Studebaker  of  South  Bend,  Ind.)  A  stately  monolithic  monument  has  since 
been  erected  close  by. 

3  By  whom  she  had  had  issue  three  children,  John  D.,  Sarah,  and  Matilda 
Johnston. 


86      THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

From  Indiana  they  removed  in  March,  1 8  30,  to  Illinois,  and 
settled  ten  miles  from  Decatur  and,  finally,  to  Coles  County, 
where  Thomas  Lincoln  died,  1 7  January,  1  8  5 1  ,'  aged  seventy- 
three  years  and  eleven  days,2  at  Goose  Neck  Prairie,  near 
Farmington. 

Children  of  THOMAS  and  NANCY  (HANKS)  LIN- 
COLN. 

I.  Nancy  Lincoln  (called  Sarah  after  1 8 1 9),  born  about 
1807,  married,  August,  1826,  Aaron  Grigsby  of  Spencer 
County,  Indiana,  and  died  in  childbed,  20  May,  1828. 

II.  Abraham  Lincoln,  born  12  February,  1809,  at  Buf- 

falo,  Hardin  (now  La  Rue)  County,  Ky.  Sixteenth  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

III.   Thomas  Lincoln,  born  after  181 3,  and  died  when  a 
few  months  old. 

1  A  monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory  by  his  grandson,  Hon. 
Robert  T.  Lincoln. 

2  If  the  record  of  his  birth  is  correct  as  given  (see  p.  80),  he  would  have 
been  only  seventy  years,  eleven  months,  and  twenty-eight  days  old  ;  if  his  age 
at  death  was  as  stated  by  his  son  in  the  family  Bible,  it  would  place  his  birth 
on  6  January,  1778,  a  discrepancy  of  two  years  and  fourteen  days. 


CHAPTER  IX 
COGNATE  FAMILIES 

IN  the  tracing  of  a  genealogy  too  little  attention  is  usually- 
paid  to  the  female  lines  of  ascent,  from  every  one  of 
which  the  inheritor  draws,  equally  with  his  direct  pater- 
nity, those  bodily  and  mental  characteristics  which  distinguish 
him  from  his  fellows.  Nothing  that  contributed  to  the  per- 
sonality of  Abraham  Lincoln  can  be  neglected  with  safety 
by  the  historian,  and  in  the  following  brief  sketches  are  pre- 
sented what  has  been  ascertained  regarding  his  distaff  lines  of 
derivation  in  America. 

JONES 

In  the  absence  of  any  authentic  information  regarding  the 
surname  and  parentage  of  Martha,  the  wife  of  Samuel 
Lincoln,  the  emigrant,  we  must  commence  these  accounts 
of  the  cognate  lines  with  the  ancestry  of  Sarah  Jones,  the 
first  wife  of  Mordecai  Lincoln,  whose  gift  of  the  name 
of  Abraham  to  the  Lincoln  family,  in  honour  of  her  father, 
makes  her  a  noteworthy  figure  in  the  pedigree. 

This  family  was  represented  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  by  two 
brothers,  Robert  and  Thomas  Jones,  who  came  from  the 
vicinity  of  Reading  in  Berkshire,  England,  in  1636-38.  It 
has  not  as  yet  been  possible  to  trace  the  pedigree  in  England, 
but  it  is  suggestive  that,  at  Welford,  in  Berks,  about  twenty 
miles  west  of  Reading,  there  occurs  a  family  of  Jhones  of  that 
place,  and  of  London,  with  whom  Abraham  was  a  charac- 
teristic prenomen.1 

1  See  Visit.  Berks,  by  Ashmole,  1665-66,  in  Harl.  Soc,  vol.  Ivi,  p.  234. 


88      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

Robert  Jones  was  the  first  of  the  two  brothers  to  arrive 
in  America,  being  a  proprietor  at  Hingham  in  1636.  He  was 
probably  identical  with  a  Robert  Joanes  who  married,  at  St. 
Mary's,  Reading,  13  June,  1625,  Elizabeth  Soane.  He  after- 
wards seems  to  have  married  a  widow  of  the  name  of  Eliza- 
beth Curtis,  formerly  of  Reading,  whose  maiden  name  had 
been  Alexander1  (who  died  25  September,  171 2),  and  had 
children:   1.   Robert;   11.  Joseph;   in.   Sarah,  who  married 

Belknap;    iv.    Benjamin    the   elder,    baptised    March, 

1638;  v.  Ephraim,  baptised  29  July,  1649;  vi.  John,  bap- 
tised 17  July,  1652;  vii.  Elizabeth,  baptised  August,  1662  ; 
and  viii.  Benjamin  the  younger,  baptised  27  October,  1666. 
Robert  Jones  was  a  Cornet,  and  died  17  November,  1691. 
His  will,  dated  20  April,  1688,  names  all  the  children  except 
Ephraim,  who  probably  died  young. 

Thomas  Jones,  the  brother  of  Robert,  was  of  Hingham, 
and  proprietor  there  in  1638.  He  came  from  Caversham, 
county  Oxon.  (directly  opposite  Reading  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Thames),  and  may  have  been  identical  with  the  Thomas 
baptised  at  St.  Mary's,  Reading,  1  December,  1599,2  although 
his  age  of  thirty-six  in  the  Shipping  List  of  16383  would 
have  placed  his  birth  in  1602.4  He  had  four  children  born 
in  England  and  under  ten  years  of  age  at  his  emigration.  His 
first  wife,  Ann,  accompanied  him  to  America,  and  was  prob- 

1  His  daughters-in-law  Elizabeth  and  Jane  Curtis  gave  him  power  of  attor- 
neys (10)  1 646,  to  collect  legacies  from  their  grandmother,  Jane  Alexander,  late 
of  Reading,  county  Oxon.  (sic).  See  Aspenwall,  p.  41.  Jane  Curtis  afterward 
married  Thomas  Collier  of  Hull  before  21  December,  1649  {°P'  Clt">  P-  240)* 

2  In  this  register,  which  dates  from  1558,  the  names  of  the  parents  are 
omitted  in  all  cases  before  1600. 

3  Drake's  Founders  of  New  England,  p.  59  ;  and  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg., 
vol.  ii,  p.  109.  In  both  cases  the  name  of  the  town  of  Caversham  (written 
Cau'sham)  has  been  misread  as  Gowsham  and  Gonsham. 

4  These  lists,  as  well  as  statements  and  depositions,  are,  however,  notoriously 
incorrect,  and  to  be  relied  upon  only  when  buttressed  with  other  evidence. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  89 

ably  the  mother  of  most,  if  not  all,  of  his  children.  He  mar- 
ried a  second  time  Elizabeth ,  who  survived  him  and 

was  called  "mother-in-law"  by  his  sons  Abraham,  Thomas, 
and  Ephraim. 

In  1657  he  and  his  son  Abraham  were  proprietors  at  Hull. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  Manchester,  of  which  place  he  was 
a  resident  at  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1680  at  Hull. 
His  inventory,  taken  in  March,  1680-81,  is  filed  at  Ipswich. 
His  children  were :  1.  Abraham;  11.  John;  in.  Ephraim; 
iv.  Sarah,  married  to  Chamberlain;  v.  Hannah,  mar- 
ried to Goding;  vi.  Thomas,  baptised  29  March,  1640; 

and  vii.  Mary,  baptised  28  May,  1643,  at  Hingham. 

Abraham  Jones,  the  eldest  son  of  Thomas  and  Ann  Jones, 
was  born  in  England  and  came  with  his  parents  to  America 
in  the  "Confidence"  of  London,  sailing  from  Southampton 
24  April,  1638.  He  was  a  proprietor  at  Hull  in  1657,  and  3 
May,  1658,  sold  lands  there,  which  had  been  given  him  by 
his  father,  to  Daniel  Cushing.1  He  resided  at  Hull  during 
his  whole  life.  He  married,  probably  about  1 6  5  3 ,2  Sarah 
Whitman  (died  i  i  June,  171 8),  eldest  child  of  John  Whit- 
man 3  by  his  wife  Ruth of  Weymouth,  Mass.   He  died 

1 717,  his  will,  dated  8  January,  171 6-1 7,  being  proved  4 

1  Suffolk  Deeds,  iv,  129. 

2  Said  by  Sewall  to  have  lived  in  wedlock  sixty-five  years.  See  Farnam's 
Whitman  Genealogy. 

3  John  Whitman  is  said  to  have  come  from  Holt,  county  Norfolk,  before 
1638,  when  he  was  freeman,  ensign  1645  to  1680,  and  deacon,  and  died 
13  November,  1692,  aged  ninety.  His  will,  dated  9  March,  1685,  proved  16 
March,  1692-93,  names  daughter  Sarah  Jones.  A  Zacharia  Whitman  was 
married  at  Chesham  Bois,  Bucks,  10  June,  1630,  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Richard 
and  Martha  (Turner)  Biscoe,  and  came  to  America  with  wife  Sarah,  aged 
twenty-five  (she  was  baptised  at  Chesham,  9  November,  1606),  and  child  Za- 
charia, two  and  a  half,  in  the  "Truelove"  of  London,  19  September,  1635 
(see  Hutton  and  Drake).  Compare  Zacharia  Whitman,  witness  to  will  of 
Abraham  Jones  ;  see  in  Appendix. 


9o      THE   ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

March,  171 7.  His  children  by  wife  Sarah  Whitman  were: 
1.  Thomas,  born  about  1656  ;  n.  Abraham,  born  1659,  free- 
man 1680,  left  issue  by  wife  Nancy;1  in.  Joseph,  had  issue 
by  wife  Lydia  and  died  1769;  iv.  Benjamin,  born  1668, 
had  issue  by  wife  Elizabeth  and  died  27  December,  1748, 
aged  eighty;  v.  John  of  Milford,  born  1669,  had  issue  by 
wife  Sarah;  vi.  Josiah,  not  named  in  his  father's  will; 
vii.  Ephraim,  who  married  four  wives,  —  Mary  Spear,  1708, 
who  died    171 3,   Mary  Adams,  1714,  died   1734,  Hannah 

Copeland,  1735,  and  Margaret ,  and  died  before  April, 

1747; 2  and  vin.  Sarah,  who  married  before  1686  Mor- 
decai  Lincoln  of  Hingham  and  died  before  1708,  leaving 
issue  four  children.3 

SALTER 

Richard  Salter  came  from  England4  and  settled  in  Mon- 
mouth  County,  New  Jersey,  about  1687  or  earlier.5  It  is  un- 
certain from  what  part  of  the  kingdom  he  was  derived,  but  the 
name  is  a  common  one,  while  the  Christian  name  of  Richard 
occurs  in  Dorset,  Hants,  Northants,  Salop,  and  probably  else- 
where. He  was  perhaps  related  to  Nicholas  Salter,  cloth  worker, 
of  London,  and  his  cousin,  Edward  Salter,  both  of  whom 
were  subscribers  to  the  Virginia  Company  and  among  the 

1  See  Hull  Registers. 

2  Suffolk  Wills,  xxxix,  615. 

3  See  Lincoln  genealogy,  in  American  Ancestry,  pp.  64,  65. 

4  So  in  records,  but  in  1679  a  Mr.  Richard  Salter  was  of  St.  Georges  Parish 
in  Barbadoes,  owning  217  acres  of  land,  with  four  white  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  negro  servants,  and  in  1685  had  part  of  consignment  of  the  un- 
happy rebels,  aftermath  of  Monmouth's  Rebellion,  on  the  "  Jamaica  Mer- 
chant" (Hotton,  pp.  462  and  342) ;  but  he  was  still  resident  in  Barbadoes,  2 
August,  1692   (Af.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  xxxix,  p.  144). 

s  See  StillwelPs  "  Salter  Family,"  Allen  and  Salter  Families,  1883,  and  Salter 
Genealogy,  1882. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  91 

incorporators  of  the  Second  and  Third  Charters  of  the  same.1 
Both  were  leading  merchants  of  London,  and  both  were 
knighted.2  This  family  was  from  Whitchurch  in  Dorset.3 

He  and  Captain  John  Bowne  (his  brother-m  law)  raised 
money  to  defend  the  patentee  rights  before  Lord  Cornbury,4 
the  then  Governor  of  the  Province,  provoking  thereby  the 
ill  will  of  the  Proprietors,  and  Bowne,  who  was  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  was  disciplined  and  expelled. 

They  represented,  with  the  courage  of  their  convictions, 
the  rights  of  the  people,  and  were  upheld  by  them  in  their 
acts,  despite  the  criminations  of  the  proprietary  party.  Pro- 
minent in  their  day  and  generation,  and  fearless  advocates  of 
the  rights  of  the  individual,  they  earned  for  themselves  from 
their  enemies  the  reputation  of  being  most  factious  and  sedi- 

1  Brown's  Genesis  of  United  States ,  vol.  ii,  pp.  990,  991,  and  Harl.  Soc, 
vol.  xvii,  p.  223. 

2  Metcalf's  Book  of  Knights,  pp.  169,  178. 

3  Harl.  Soc,  vol.  xvii,  p.  223  ;   Hutchins's  Dorset,  vol.  i,  p.  347. 

4  Edward  Hyde,  Viscount  Cornbury,  son  and  heir  of  Henry,  Earl  of  Clar- 
endon, and  the  unworthy  grandson  and  namesake  of  the  first  Earl  of  Claren- 
don, the  statesman  and  historian,  was  born  December,  1661.  He  was  one 
of  the  earliest  of  the  deserters  to  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  the  Revolution  of 
1688,  although  he  had  been  showered  with  favours  by  James  II.  He  was 
Governor  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  1701-08,  and  "  earned  a  most  un- 
enviable reputation,  which  he  appears  to  have  fully  deserved,  and  his  character 
and  conduct  were  equally  abhorred  in  both  hemispheres."  (See  Chester's  West- 
minster Abbey  Registers,  p.  308.)  He  was  clandestinely  married,  10  July,  1688, 
at  Totteridge,  county  Herts,  to  Catherine,  daughter  and  heir  of  Henry  O'Brian 
(son  of  Henry,  Earl  of  Thomond  in  Ireland),  by  Catherine,  suo  jure  Baroness 
Clifton  of  Leighton  Bromswold,  in  county  Warwick,  which  Catherine  be- 
came, on  her  mother's  death  in  November,  1702,  suo  jure  Baroness  Clifton, 
and  died  at  New  York,  11  August,  1 706,  and  was  buried  at  Trinity  Church 
there.  Lord  Cornbury,  who  became  Earl  of  Clarendon  on  the  death  of  his 
father,  31  October,  1709,  died  in  obscurity  and  deeply  in  debt,  31  March,  and 
was  buried  5  April,  1723,  in  the  vault  of  the  noble  ancestors  whom  he  had  dis- 
graced, in  Westminster  Abbey.  (See  G.  E.  C,  Complete  Peerage,  vol.  ii,  pp.  277, 
302,  vol.  vii,  pp.  392,  393,  and  Chester's  Westminster  Registers,  loc.  cit.  supra.) 


92      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

tious   persons,   titles  which,   in   the   perspective   of  history, 
redound  to  their  credit  and  eternal  honour. 

In  1695  Salter  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Deputies  and  in  1704  a  member  of  the  second  Assembly  of 
Representatives.  He  was  also  Judge  and  Justice  and  has  given 
him,  in  the  records,  the  titles  of  Mr.,  Esquire,  and  Captain. 

He  married,  probably  about  1693,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Cap- 
tain John  Bowne  by  his  wife  Lydia  Holmes,  who  was  born 
at  Gravesend,  Long  Island,  27  November,  1669,  and  was  still 
living  in  17 14.  The  exact  date  of  his  death  is  unknown. 
He  was  still  on  the  bench  as  judge  in  his  county  in  1724,  and 
was  probably  still  living  in  1728,  when  his  son  was  called 
Richard  junior.  His  children  by  wife  Sarah  Bowne  were:  — 
I.  John  Salter,  born  about  1695.1  Resided  in  Freehold, 
N.  J.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Elisha  and  Lucy 
(Stout)  Lawrence.  Died  in  1723,2  leaving  four  daughters, — 
Sarah,  Lucy,  Lydia,  and  Elizabeth,  all  under  eighteen. 

II.  Thomas  Salter,  second  son,  born  about  1695,  named 
in  will  of  his  uncle  John  Bowne,  1714.    Resided  at  Freehold, 

N.  J.   He  married  Rachel ,  and  had  children:  Hannah, 

Richard,  and  Deborah.   Died  1 723.3 

III.  Ebenezer  Salter  was  living  on  Staten  Island,  1724  ;  and 
in  1733  he  removed  to  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey. 
Married,  before  171 4,  Rebecca,  daughter  of  John  and  Re- 
becca (Throckmorton)  Stillwell  (Esq.)  of  Staten  Island.  She 
was  still  living  in  1757,  and  resided  in  the  western  part  of 
Monmouth  County.  They  had  children:  Manassah,  Daniel, 
Alice,  Thomas,  and  Elezar. 

1  He  was  of  age  before  171 6,  when  his  uncle  John  Bowne's  will  was 
proved,  but  under  age  in  17 14,  when  it  was  written.   See  Bowne  family. 

2  His  will  dated  4  May,  proved  1  October,  1723.  Recorded  Trenton,  N.  J., 
Book  II,  p.  254. 

3  His  will  dated  13  June,  1722,  proved  25  April,  1725.  Recorded  Tren- 
ton, N.  J.,  Book  II,  p.  248. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  93 

IV.  Richard  Salter,  born  about  1698-99,  called  Junior  in 
1728.  In  1749  he  was  proposed  for  member  of  the  Coun- 
cil, a  position  which  he  held  until  his  death.  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Jersey,  9  June,  1754.  He  re- 
sided at  Trenton  and  Allentown  and  erected  a  large  mansion 
on  Black  Point  near  Seabright.  He  married  Hannah,  daughter 
of  Elisha  and  Lucy  (Stout)  Lawrence  (born  1696,  living 
1763).  He  died  in  1763  ;  his  will  dated  1 1  February  of  that 
year.  Had  children  Richard,  Joseph,  John,  Lawrence,  Elisha, 
Elizabeth,  Sarah,  Lucy,  Catherine  (died  young),  and  Susan. 

V.  Hannah  Salter,  only  daughter.  Married  before  1 7 1 4 l 
Mordecai  Lincoln.   See  Lincoln  genealogy. 

BOWNE 

William  Bowne  settled  at  Salem,  Mass.,  about  1635,  and 
was  granted  forty  acres  of  land  at  Jefferies'  Creek  in  1636. 
He  and  his  sons  came  to  Gravesend,  Long  Island,2  with 
Lady  Moody,3  and  were  among  the  founders  of  that  place, 
having  an  allotment  there  12  November,  1649.   In  1665  he 

1  See  will  of  Capt.  John  Bowne  in  Bowne  family. 

2  A  Thomas  Bowne  from  Matlock,  Derbyshire,  England  (born  1595),  of 
Flushing,  L.  I.,  before  1656,  seems  to  have  been  of  quite  a  different  family 
from  the  above.  (See  Powell's  L.  I.  Genealogies,  p.  184.) 

3  Deborah  Dunch,  daughter  of  Walter  Dunch  of  Avebury,  county  Wilts, 
by  his  wife  Deborah,  daughter  of  James  Pilkington,  Bishop  of  Durham.  She 
married,  20  January,  1605-06,  Sir  Henry  Moody  of  Garsdon,  Wilts,  Knight 
(1605),  Sheriff  of  Wilts,  1618-19,  M.  P.,  1625,  1626,  and  1628-29,  created 
a  Baronet  1 1  March,  1621-22.  He  died  23  April,  1629,  at  Garsdon,  and  Lady 
Moody,  being  a  Puritan  and  "a  wise  and  anciently  religious  woman,"  ac- 
cording to  Governor  Winthrop,  came  to  New  England  with  her  young  son, 
Sir  Henry  Moody,  before  1638.  After  an  unfortunate  experience  at  Lynn 
and  Salem  with  the  Ecclesiastics  (1641),  Savages  (1643),  an(l  Tempests 
(1646),  she  removed  to  Long  Island  and  became  one  of  the  patentees  of 
Gravesend  before  1654.  She  died  before  11  May,  1659,  when  letters  of 
administration  were  granted  to  her  son  (G.  E.  C,  Complete  Baronetage,  vol.  i, 
p.  191 ;  Notes  and  Queries,  7th  Ser.,  vol.  v,  p.  415;  Winthrop's  History). 


94      THE   ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

obtained  a  patent  for  a  tract  of  land  at  Middletown,  N.  J.  He 
died  in  1677,  and  letters  of  administration  on  his  estate  were 
granted  as  of  William  Bowne  "  heretofore  of  Gravesend  and 
late  of  Middletown." 

By  his  wife  Ann (whose  maiden  name  has  not  been 

discovered)  he  had  three  sons:  1.  John,  of  whom  hereafter; 
11.  James,  of  Portland  Point,  N.J. ,  a  Deputy  in  1677,  and 
in.  Andrew  of  Middletown,  N.  J.,  whose  will,  dated  6  May, 
1706,  was  proved  20  June,  1708.1 

John  Bowne,  eldest  son  of  William  and  Ann,  came  to 
Gravesend,  L.  I.,  with  his  father,  and  was  allotted  a  plantation 
there  20  September,  1647;2  and  he  also  purchased  of  Sir  Henry 
Moody,  son  and  heir  of  Lady  Deborah,  his  plantation  lot, 
number  24,  in  the  same  place.  He  was  representative  in  the 
Hempstead  Convention  in  1665,  but  must  have  very  shortly 
after  removed  to  Middletown,  N.  J.,  of  which  he  was  one  of 
the  patentees,3  and  where  he  was  resident  so  early  as  1667  and 
took  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  1668.  Member  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Assembly  of  New  Jersey  in  1680,  and  Speaker,  1682. 
Justice  for  Monmouth  County,  1683. 

He  married  about  1663  Lydia  Holmes,  daughter  of  Oba- 

diah  and  Catherine  ( )  Holmes,4  by  whom  he  had  issue 

five  children,  of  whom  detailed  account  follows.  He  died 
in  1684,  letters  of  administration  being  issued  to  his  widow 
28  May  of  that  year,  the  bondsmen  being  his  brother  Andrew 
BowneofNew  York,  merchant,  andjohn  Bowne,  the  eldestson. 
Children  of  JOHN  and  LYDIA  (HOLMES)  BOWNE  were : 

I.  John  Bowne,  born  1  April,  1664,  of  Matteawan,  Middle- 
town,  N.  J.,  merchant,  also  captain.   Member  of  the  Provin- 

1  Recorded  Monmouth  County,  i,  209.  See  N.  T.  Gen.  and  Blog.  Rec,  vol. 
iv,  p.  24  ;   Bergen's  Settlers  Kings  County,  N.  V.,  p.  44. 

2  Grant  recorded  10  September,  1 660. 

3  Rann's  New  "Jersey,  vol.  i,  p.  73. 

4  See  Holmes  family,  p.  97. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  95 

cial  Assembly,  1704,  but  expelled  by  the  Cornbury  camarilla 
for  attempting  to  resist  their  tyrannical  aggressions,  as  has  been 

related  under  Salter  (q.  v.).   He  married  Frances (who 

died  1716-171),  but  left  no  issue.  His  will,  dated  14  Sep- 
tember, 1 714,  was  proved  15  February,  171 5—16.  Left  to 
wife  ^"400;  to  sister,  Sarah  Salter,  all  plate,  etc.;  to 
Gershom  Mott,  for  his  children,  ^200;  to  Joseph  Dennis, 
Jeremiah  White,  Thomas  and  John  Salter,  Hannah  Lin- 
coln and  William  Hartshorn's  three  children,  each  £250. 
Brothers  Obadiah  Bowne  and  Richard  Salter,  Executors 
and  Residuary  Legatees.2 

II.  Obadiah  Bowne,  born  18  July,  1666.  Member  of  the 
Provincial  Assembly.  Had  grant  of  land  at  Chingueroras, 
N.  J.,  from  his  brotherjohn,  13  January,  171  5-16.  His  will, 
dated  19  February,  1725—26,  with  Codicil,  12  April,  1726, 
proved  25  April,  1726,  names  sons  John  (Exor.),  Cornelius, 
Obadiah,  and  Thomas,  and  daughters  Anne,  Lydia,and  Mary.3 

III.  Deborah  Bowne,  born  25  January,  1668. 

IV.  Sarah  Bowne,  born  27  November,  1669.  Married 
Richard  Salter,  and  was  still  living  in  171 4.  See  Salter 
family,  page  90. 

V.  Catherine  Bowne,  married,  before  1697,  Gershom 
Mott4  (born  1653),  of  Green  Point  and  Hampstead,  L.  I., 
gentleman.  He  removed  to  Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey, 
before  1685;   High  Sheriff  there,  1697-98;  member  of  Pro- 

1  Administration  of  her  estate  granted  1 7  February,  1 7 1 6-1 7,  to  her  nephew, 
Thomas  Hunlock,  of  Burlington,  N.  J.,  Monmouth  Wills,  Book  A,  p.  49.  She 
had  contested  the  will  of  her  husband,  11  April  preceding. 

2  Monmouth  Wills,  Book  A,  pp.  10-27. 
s  Monmouth  Wills,  Book  B,  p.  1. 

4  Sixth  son  of  Adam  Mott  of  county  Essex,  England,  who  came  to  Amer- 
ica before  1 644,  and  was  married  28  July,  1 647,  as  Adam  Maet  to  Jenne  Hulet 
(Jane  Hewlett)  from  county  Bucks,  England,  at  New  York  Dutch  Church. 
She  died  and  he  married,  secondly,  Elizabeth  Richbell  (Bunker's  Long  Island 
Genealogies,  p.  252  ;  N.  T.  Gen.  and  Biog.  Rec,  vol.  xxv,  p.  49). 


96      THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

vincial  Assembly,  1707,  1710,  and  171  3.  He  was  expelled 
in  1 710  for  refusing  support  to  the  Cornbury  faction  and 
re-elected  171  3.  His  will,  dated  15  February,  1730,  proved 
30  March,  1733,  as  of  Middletown. 

HOLMES 

Obadiah  Holmes  was  born  about  1607  at  Preston,  Lan- 
cashire, England.  He  came  to  Salem,  Mass.,  1639,  when  he 
had  a  grant  of  land  there  as  one  of  the  "  glassmen  "  who 
were  given  special  privileges  to  encourage  that  industry.  In 
1646  he  removed  to  Rehoboth,  Mass.,  where  he  had  had 
land  assigned  him  two  years  previously,  and  where  he  was 
made  a  Freeman,  7  June,  1648.  On  the  2d  October,  1650, 
he  was  presented  by  the  Grand  Jury,  with  others,  for  hold- 
ing religious  meetings  and,  the  same  year,  he  and  eight  more 
separated  themselves  from  the  Church  and  were  baptised; 
he  became  pastor  of  the  seceders  and  removed  to  New- 
port, R.  I.,  shortly  after.  In  July,  1651,  he  and  two  others 
of  his  congregation  visited  Lynn,  Mass.,  on  religious  busi- 
ness, and  were  there  arrested  while  he  was  preaching;  they 
were  sent  to  Boston,  and  there  on  the  3 1st  of  the  same  month 
were  sentenced  to  be  publicly  whipped,  which  inhuman  sen- 
tence was  carried  out  in  September  following;  after  which 
he  escaped  and  returned  to  Newport,  becoming  the  next  year 
the  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  in  which  office  he 
continued  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1682,  and  he 
was  buried  in  his  own  field  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Middletown,  R.  I.  His  will,  dated  2  April,  1682,  was  not 
proved,  owing  to  its  not  having  the  requisite  number  of  wit- 
nesses. His  wife  Catherine,  who  probably  accompanied 
him  from  England,  died  shortly  after  him.  Children  of 
OBADIAH  and  CATHERINE  ( )  HOLMES  were:1 

1  Austin's  Gen.  Diet.  Rhode  Island,  pp.  1 03- 1 04. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  97 

I.  Mary,  probably  born  in  England  before  1639.  Mar- 
ried John  Brown,  son  of  Chad  and  Elizabeth  (born  1630, 
died  1706).   She  died  1690. 

II.   Martha,  baptised  at  Salem,  3  May,  1640,  died  1682. 

III.  Samuel,  baptised  at  Salem,  20  March,  1642.  Married 
Alice  Stillwell,  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Ann  (Van  Dyke) 
Stillwell,  removed  to  Gravesend,  L.  I.,  and  died  1679.  Left 
issue. 

IV.  Obadiah,  baptised  at  Salem,  9  June,  1644.  Married 
Hannah  Cole  and  removed  to  Staten  Island,  and  after  to 
Cohansey,  N.  J.  Justice,  1689;  was  one  of  the  organisers 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  for  twelve  years  a  Judge  of  the 
Salem  County  Court.  He  died  before  10  June,  1723.  Left 
issue. 

V.  Lydia  Holmes,  probably  born  in  Rehoboth.  Married 
John  Bowne.   See  Bowne  family,  page  94. 

VI.  Jonathan,  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Richard  and 

Joan  ( )  Borden  (born  May,  1644,  died  1705).   Of  Mid- 

dleton,  N.  J.  ;  Deputy,  1668,  and  Justice,  1672.  Returned 
to  Newport,  R.  I.,  1684,  and  Freeman  there  that  year; 
Deputy,  1690-91,  1696,  1 698-1 702,  1706-07;  Speaker, 
1696-98,  1700-03.  Died  171 3;  will  proved  2  November. 
Had  issue. 

VII.  John, born  1649.  He  married, first,  1  December,! 671, 
Frances,  daughter  of  Randall  and  Frances  (Dungan)  Holden 
(born  1649,  died  1679)  ;  married,  second,  12  October,  1680, 
Mary,  widow  of  William  Green  and  daughter  of  John  and 
Mary  (Williams)  Sayles  (born  1652,  died  171 3).  Was  of 
Newport,  R.  I. ;  Deputy,  1682,  1704-05;  Treasurer,  1690- 
1703,  1708-09,  and  Lieutenant.  Died  2  October,  171 2. 
Left  issue  by  both  wives. 
VIII.  Hopestill.     Married  Taylor. 


98      THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

BOONE 

While  the  Boone  family  cannot  be  classed  among  the  di- 
rect ancestors  of  the  President,  yet  the  close  relationship  by 
several  marriages  and  the  resultant  deep  influence  cast  upon 
their  destiny  by  that  most  noted  and  picturesque  figure  of 
our  border  history,  Daniel  Boone,  seem  to  entitle  them  to 
a  place  among  his  forebears. 

The  earliest  light  which  we  obtain  upon  the  history  of  the 
family  is  contained  in  an  account  "wrote  "  by  John  Boone  of 
01ey,Penn.  (son  of  George  and  Mary  (Maugridge)  Boone 
and  the  uncle  of  Daniel),  which  was  transcribed  21  March, 
1788,  by  James  Boone  (grandson  of  George  and  Mary  and 
son  of  James  andMARY  (Foulke)  Boone, of  Oley,  born  1 743), 
and  upon  which  the  following  pedigree  is  largely  based.1 

George  Boone,  the  earliest  known  member  of  the  fam- 
ily, lived  and  died  in  England,  leaving  a  son  — 

George  Boone,  born  in  or  near  Exeter,  Devonshire.  He 
was  a  blacksmith,  married  Sarah  Uppey,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  sixty  years  and  his  wife  at  eighty,  neither  of  them 
ever  having  had,  it  is  related,  "  an  aching  bone  or  decayed 
tooth  "  !  All  dates  to  this  point  are  unfortunately  omitted. 

George  Boone,  son  of  George  and  Sarah  (Uppey)  Boone, 
was  born  at  Stoak  near  Exeter,  county  Devon,  in  December, 
1666.  He  was  a  weaver  by  trade,  and  married  Mary  Mau- 
gridge,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Milton)  Maugridge, 
of  Bradninch,  eight  miles  from  Exeter,  who  was  born  in 
1669.  They  came  from  Bradninch  to  Pennsylvania  by  way 
of  Bristol,  leaving  Bradninch  17  August,  and  arriving  at 
Philadelphia  29  September,  171 7,  bringing  with  them  Cer- 
tificate from  Collumpton  Meeting,2  dated  31  of  10  month 

1  Penn.  Hist.  Mag.,  May,  1897,  vol.  xxi,  p.  112.  The  original  is  in  the 
Draper  MSS.  in  Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  at  Madison,  Wis. 

2  They  having  affiliated  themselves  with  the  Quakers. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  99 

(October),  171 7,  which  was  presented  to  Gwynedd  Meeting 
in  Philadelphia  County,  Pennsylvania,  with  which  they  iden- 
tified themselves.  Three  of  their  children  —  George,  Sarah, 
and  Squire  —  had  preceded  their  parents  to  Pennsylvania. 
They  resided  for  a  short  time  at  Abington  and  finally  re- 
moved to  Oley  in  Philadelphia  County,  but  now  known  as 
Exeter  in  county  Berks,  where  they  made  their  final  settle- 
ment ;  but  George  Boone  had  had  a  warrant  for  four  hundred 
acres  of  land  here  so  early  as  1718.1  He  died  at  Oley  2  Feb- 
ruary, 1740,  aged  seventy-eight.2  His  wife  had  predeceased 
him  at  the  age  of  seventy-two,  in  1735.  The  children  of 
GEORGE  and  MARY  (MAUGRIDGE)  BOONE  were:  — 
I.  George  Boone,  eldest  son,  born  about  1 690  in  Devon- 
shire. He  came  to  Pennsylvania  about  171  2,  before  his  par- 
ents ;  resided  at  Abington,  Penn.,  the  records  of  the  Monthly 
Meeting  of  which  he  transcribed  from  the  original  records 
in  171 8,  but  removed  to  Oley  in  1721.  He  was  trustee  under 
the  will  of  Mordecai  Lincoln  (dated  22  February,  1735-36), 
being  the  first  connection  on  record  between  the  two  fam- 
ilies. He  married,  20  August,  1 7 1  3,  Deborah  Howell,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Mary  Howell  of  Cheltenham,  (now3) 
Montgomery  County,  Penn.  (born  28  October,  1 691 ;  died 
26  March,  1759).  They  had  issue  ten  children  — 

1 .  George,  born  3  July,  1 7 1 4 ;  died  in  Exeter,  Penn.,  aged 
twenty-four ;  unmarried. 

2.  Mary,  born  10  April,  171 6  ;  living  1753. 

3.  Hannah,  born  20  September,  171 8;  married,  1742, 
John  Hughes,  and  died  before  1753,  leaving  two  children, 
George  and  Jane  Hughes. 

1  Rupp's  Hist.  Berks  County,  p.  231. 

2  Sic  in  record,  but  compare  statement  in  family  paper  that  he  was  born 
1666. 

3  Since  1745. 


ioo    THE   ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

4.  Deborah,  born  18  February,  1720-21  ;  married,  May, 
1 739,  Joseph  Bennett  of  Chester  County. 

5.  Dinah,  born  18  December,  1722. 

6.  William,  born  1 8  November,  1724;  married,  26  May, 
1748,  Sarah  Lincoln  (daughter  of  Mordecai),  and  re- 
moved in  1769  to  Frederick  County,  Maryland,1  where  he 
died  in  1771,2  and  his  widow  and  children  returned  to  Exeter 
30  December,  1 776,  where  she  died  2 1  June,  1  8 1  o,  aged  eighty- 
three  years  and  over.  They  had  eight  children:  1.  Abigail, 
married,  1767,  Adin  Pancoast  of  Mansfield,  N.J.;  2.  Mor- 
decai; 3.  William,  probably  joined  Revolutionary  army,  25 
December,  1776;  4.  Mary,  married,  1777,  Isaac  Lee  of 
Berks  County;  5.  George,  living  1776;  6.  Thomas,  living 
1 776  ;  7.  Jeremiah,  removed  to  Philadelphia,  1 78 1  ;  8.  Heze- 
kiah,  married,  before  1 79 1,  Hannah  Hughes,  daughter  of 
George  [ut  supra}. 

7.  Josiah,  born  6  March,  1726-27;  married  out  of  Meet- 
ing about  1750  ;  living  1787. 

8.  Jeremiah,  born  6  September,  1729;  died  at  Oley,  1787; 
unmarried. 

9.  Abigail,  born  9  October,  1732;  probably  died  un- 
married. 

10.   Hezekiah,  born  22  May,  1 73— ;  living  1787. 
II.   Sarah  Boone,  eldest  daughter,  born  about  1692  in 
Devonshire;    came   to   Pennsylvania    about    171 2    with    her 
brothers,  George  and  Squire.    She  married  Jacob  Stover  of 
Olev,  Penn. 

III.  Squire  Boone,  born  25  November,  1696;  came  to 
Pennsylvania,  1 7 1 2.  Was  of  Gwynedd,  and  married  there,  25 
September,  1720,  Sarah  Morgan,  daughter  of  John  Mor- 

1  But  within  the  limits  of  Fairfax  Monthly  Meeting  in  Loudoun  County, 
Virginia. 

a  His  will  proved  6  December,  177 1. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  101 

gan.  He  removed  to  Oley,  1730—31.  In  1736  he  was  one  of 
the  appraisers  of  the  estate  of  Mordecai  Lincoln,  and  in 
1750  removed  to  Buffalo  Lick  on  the  Yadkin  River  in  North 
Carolina.1  Squire  and  Sarah  Boone  had  issue  eleven  chil- 
dren — 

1.  Sarah,  born  1724. 

2.  Israel,  born  1726;  married  out  of  Meeting  and  dis- 
owned, 1748. 

3.  Samuel,  born  1728  ;  married  Sarah  Day,  and  had  son 
Samuel,  who  was  taxed  at  Amity,  1759. 

4.  Jonathan,  born  1730. 

5.  Elizabeth,  born  1732. 

6.  Daniel  Boone,  born   22    October,  1734;   of  whom 
hereafter. 

7.  Mary,  born  1736. 

8.  George,  born  1739. 

9.  Edward,  born  171 4;   killed  by  Indians,  1780. 

10.  Squire,  born ;  died  aged  seventy-six,  having  mar- 
ried and  had  issue. 

1 1.  Hannah,  born ;   married Pennington. 

IV.   Mary  Boone,  married,  13  September,  1720,  John 

Webb. 

V.  John  Boone,  died  unmarried  at  Oley. 
VI.  Joseph  Boone,  taxed  at  Amity,  1734,  for  240  acres. 
VII.   Benjamin  Boone,  born  16  July,  1706.2  He  married 
at  Abington  Meeting,  31  October,  1726,3  Ann  Farmer  and, 

later,  Susanna  ,  who  survived  him.   It  is  uncertain  to 

which  of  his  wives  the  children  belonged,  but,  6  August, 

1  Now  in  Davie  County. 

2  We  are  indebted  to  Miss  M.  J.  Roe  of  Gilbert,  Ohio,  for  details  regarding 
the  family  of  Benjamin.  See  reference  to  this  lady's  valuable  assistance  in 
preface. 

3  Bringing  a  Certificate  from  Gwynedd  Monthly  Meeting,  dated  7,  27, 
1726. 


102    THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

1 753,  the  five  youngest  were  baptised  at  Morlotton  Episcopal 
Church,  Douglasville,  Berks  County,  Penn.,  and  these  were 
probably  all  the  children  of  Susanna.  He  died  at  Exeter, 
Berks  County,  14  October,  1762,  and  his  will  was  proved  27 
of  same  month.  Susanna,  his  widow,  died  5  November,  1784, 
aged  seventy-six  years.  Benjamin  Boone  had  issue  six  chil- 
dren— 

1.  John,  eldest  son,  legatee  of  five  shillings  in  will  of 
father. 

2.  Mary,  born  11  November,  1739,  not  named  in  will. 

3.  Benjamin,  born  13  August,  1741. 

4.  James,  born  24  March,  1743. 

5.  Samuel,  born  11  August,  1745. 

6.  Dinah,  born  10  May,  1749,1  married,  9  November, 
1764,  Benjamin  Tallman,  son  of  William  and  Ann  (Lincoln) 
Tallman2  (born  9  January,  1745,  died  25  July,  1824,  in 
Ohio). 

VIII.  James  Boone,  born  7  July,  1709.  Of  Oley,  Penn.; 
married  Mary  Foulke,  eldest  daughter  of  Hugh  and  Anne 
(Williams)  Foulke,3  of  Richland,  Bucks  County,  Penn.  (form- 
erly of  Gwynedd).  He  died  at  Oley,  1  September,  1785.  He 
and  his  brother  John  were  the  only  surviving  members  of 
the  Boone  family  who  did  not  remove  to  Virginia  or  North 
Carolina.  James  and  Mary  (Foulke)  Boone  had  issue  twelve 
children  — 

1.  Ann,  born  3  April,  1737;  married,  10  July,  1760, 
Abraham  Lincoln  (born  18  October,  1736),  posthumous 
son  of  Mordecai  and  Mary  Lincoln,  "out  of  Meeting,"  for 

1  This  date  of  1749  seems  incredible,  as  she  would  have  been  only  fifteen 
years  and  six  months  old  at  her  marriage  in  1764;  but  both  dates  are  as  in 
records. 

2  See  Lincoln  genealogy,  p.  73. 

3  See  Fulke  genealogy  in  Jenkins's  Hist.  Gwynedd,  pp.  33,  233. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  103 

which  "  disorderly  "  act  she  was  disciplined  by  Exeter  Monthly 
Meeting  and  made  acknowledgment  of  her  error  27  August, 
1 76 1.  She  died  4  April,  1807,  having  had  issue  twelve  chil- 
dren.1 

2.  Mary,  born  17  January,  1738,  married  Thomas  Lee 
(died  20  October,  1830),  son  of  Samuel  and  Margaret  Lee 
of  Oley,  14  May,  1778.   She  died  19  August,  1823. 

3.  Martha,  born  1742;  married  George  Hughes  (born 
1742),  son  of  John  and  Hannah  (Boone)  Hughes,  who  died 
18  August,  1795.   She  died  28  May,  1798. 

4.  James,  born  1743.  Mathematician  and  writer  of  the 
Boone  Genealogy  in  1788. 

5.  John,  born  1745. 

6.  Judah,  born  10  December,  1746;  married,  15  No- 
vember, 1770,  Hannah  Lee,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Mary 
Lee  of  Oley. 

7.  Joshua,  born  1748;  died  an  infant. 

8.  Dinah,  born  1748. 

9.  Rachel,  born  1751. 

10.  Moses,  born  23  May,  1 75 1  ;  married,  1779,  Sarah 
Griffin. 

11.  Hannah,  born  1752;   died  an  infant. 

12.  Nathaniel,  born  1753;   died  an  infant. 

IX.  Samuel  Boone,  youngest  child;  married,  1735,  Eliz- 
abeth  .  He  died  6  August,  1745,  and  his  widow  Eliza- 
beth married,  27  September,  1748,  Joseph  Yarnall,  son  of 
Francis  and  Hannah  (Baker)  Yarnall  and  uncle  of  Francis 
Yarnall  who  had  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Mordecai 
Lincoln. 

Ill,  6.  Daniel  Boone,  fourth  son  and  sixth  child  of  Squire 
and  Sarah  (Morgan)  Boone,  was  born  at  Oley  22   October, 

1  See  Lincoln  genealogy,  p.  75. 


104   THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

(8th  month),  1734.1  Any  biographical  notice  here  of  this 
intrepid  pioneer  and  explorer  may  be  omitted  as  superfluous, 
as  his  history  is  that  of  the  conquered  wilderness  he  gave  to 
civilisation  and  his  country.  He  married  Rebecca  Bryan 
(died  1 8 1  3).  Disappointed  and  embittered  by  being  deprived, 
through  legal  technicalities,  of  the  lands  which  he  had  so 
hardly  won  from  the  savages,  he  removed  with  his  family  in 
1795  to  Charette  in  the  then  wilds  of  Missouri,2  where  he 
died  26  September,  1820,  aged  86  years,  11  months,  and  4 
days.  Daniel  and  Rebecca  (Bryan)  Boone  had  issue  nine 
children  — 

1 .  James,  born  1757;  killed  by  Indians,  1  o  October,  1 773, 
at  Powell's  Valley,  Ky. 

2.  Israel,  born  1759;   killed  by  Indians. 

3.  Susanna,  born  1760. 

4.  Jemima,  born  1762;  married  Flanders  Calloway. 

5.  Lavinia,  born  1766. 

6.  Rebecca,  born  1768. 

7.  Daniel  Morgan,  born  1 769 ;  removed  to  Kansas,  1 8 27. 

8.  John  Bryan,  born  1773. 

9.  Nathan,  born  1780. 

The  foregoing  account  shows  no  less  than  six  points  of 
intimate  contact  between  the  Lincoln  and  Boone  families, 
of  which  four  were  intermarriages,  and  all  of  them  with 
Mordecai  Lincoln  or  his  descendants.  These  were:  — 

1  According  to  the  record  in  Exeter  Monthly  Meeting,  which  is  prob- 
ably correct,  but  differs  widely  from  many  authorities  which  vary  from  1 73 1  to 
1735.  From  this  it  would  appear  that  the  age  given  on  his  tombstone  is  one 
year  in  excess  of  the  truth,  and  that  he  was  really  twenty-six  days  less  than 
eighty-six  years  of  age  instead  of  nearly  eighty-seven  as  represented.  (See 
Miner's  Boone  Bibliography,  1 90 1.) 

2  At  that  time  a  Spanish  possession  and,  until  the  Jefferson  purchase  of 
1803,  without  the  territory  of  the  United  States. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  105 

1735—6.  George  Boone,  named  as  trustee  in  will  of  Morde- 
cai  Lincoln,  dated  22  February. 

1736.  Squire  Boone  was  appraiser  of  the  estate  of  Mor- 
decai. 

1748.  William  Boone,  son  of  George,  married  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Mordecai,  26  May. 

1 748.  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Samuel  Boone,  married  Joseph 
Yarnall,  27  September,  who  was  uncle  of  Fran- 
cis Yarnall,  who  had  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  Mordecai. 

1 760.  Anne  Boone,  daughter  of  James,  married  Abraham 
Lincoln,  posthumous  son  of  Mordecai,  10  July. 

1764.  Dinah  Boone,  daughter  of  Benjamin,  married 
Benjamin  Tallman,  grandson  of  Mordecai  Lin- 
coln, 9  November. 

SHIPLEY 

Robert  Shipley,  an  Englishman,  is  said  to  have  come  to 
America  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  to 
have  settled  in  Lunenburg  County,  Virginia;1  and  we  find 
here  a  Robert  Shipley,  16  September,  1765,  purchasing  314 
acres  of  land  in  that  county.  He  was  probably  identical  with 
the  Robert  Shipley  who,  with  wife  Sarah,  in  1771,  being 
then  of  Russel  parish  in  the  county  of  Bedford,2  sells  164 
acres  there  to  Daniel  Mitchel,  Jr.,  of  the  same.  A  Robert 
Shipley,  Jr.,  who  purchases  lands  in  Bedford  County  in  1 769, 
and  Edward  Shipley,  who  buys  land  of  the  same  Thomas 
Dougherty  at  the  same  date,  were  probably  sons  of  the  elder 
Robert,3  and  a  later  Robert  with  wife  Rachel  was  probably 
the  same  as  Robert,  Jr.,  the  father  being  then  dead.    There 

1  On  authority  of  Mrs.  C.  H.  Hitchcock ;   see  Nancy  Hanks,  p.  24. 

2  Set  off  from  Lunenburg  in  1  753. 

3  See  all  of  these  Deeds  in  Appendix. 


106    THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

were  also  five  daughters,  who  do  not  appear  in  the  Virginia 
records.1 

Children  of  ROBERT  and  SARAH  ( )  SHIPLEY. 

I.  Robert  Shipley,  Jr.,  occurs  as  grantee  of  262  acres 
of  land  on  the  Falling  River,  Bedford  County,  from  Thomas 
Dougherty,  10  May,  1769,  and  which  land  he  sold,  14  Au- 
gust, 1772,  to  Samuel  Walker  of  same  and,  subsequently,  22 
August,  1777,  with  wife  Rachel,  he  disposed  of  250  acres  of 
a  tract  which,  comprising  900  acres  on  the  Phelps  Creek, 
had  been  granted  to 

II.  Edward  Shipley,  probably  his  brother  and  also  son 
of  Robert  Shipley,  Sr.,  likewise  obtained  of  the  said  Thomas 
Dougherty  at  the  same  date  as  the  grant  to  his  brother  and, 
dying  without  issue,  his  brother  Robert  had  become  his  heir- 
at-law. 

III.  Mary  Shipley,  who  married  Abraham  Lincoln  of 
Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  before  1763,  and  died  in  Vir- 
ginia before  1 779,  having  had  issue  four  children  :  1 .  Mor- 
decai,  born  1764;  2.  Josiah,  born  10  July,  1766;  3.  Mary, 
married  Ralph  Crume  or  Krume  of  Elizabethtown,  Ky. ; 
and  4.  Nancy,  married  William  Brumfield  of  Kentucky.  See 
Lincoln  genealogy,  pages  78,  79. 

IV.  Lucy  Shipley  married  Richard  Berry  of  Rocking- 
ham County,  Virginia,  who  removed  to  Kentucky  about  1789 
and  lived  at  Beechland,  near  Springfield,  Washington  County. 
They  were  the  foster  parents  of  the  orphaned  Nancy  Hanks, 
whose  legal  guardian  Richard  Berry  became,  and  from  whose 
home  she  was  married  to  Thomas  Lincoln,  he  becoming  the 
surety  on  the  marriage  bond.  It  is  this  Aunt  Lucy  —  Berry, 
not  Hanks  —  who  has  been  mistaken  by  the  first  hasty  his- 

1  Hon.  J.  L.  Nail,  a  descendant  of  Abraham  and  Mary  (Shipley)  Lincoln, 
says  the  Shipleys  came  to  Kentucky  in  1780  from  the  Boone  region  in  North 
Carolina,  in  letter,  29  September,  1895,  to  Mrs.  C.  H.  Hitchcock. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  107 

torians1  as  the  mother,  Lucy  Hanks,  and  so  helped  to  give 
credence  to  the  foul  fable  of  base  birth  so  industriously  fo- 
mented by  the  enemies  of  the  President.  Richard  and  Lucy 
had  issue:  i.  Frank;  2.  Edward  (Ned),  and  perhaps  other 
children. 

V.  Sarah  Shipley  married  Robert  Mitchell,2  who  re- 
moved to  Kentucky  in  1789.  On  the  journey  they  were 
attacked  by  Indians;  Sarah,  the  wife,  was  fatally  wounded, 
and  their  only  daughter,  Sarah,  then  a  child  of  eleven  years, 
was  carried  away  into  captivity.  Robert,  the  father,  in  an 
attempted  pursuit  for  rescue,  was  drowned  in  the  Ohio  River. 
A  son  Daniel  settled  in  Washington  County,  and  after  the 
Wayne  Treaty  in  1795  his  sister  was  returned  and  lived  with 
him  and  her  uncle,  Richard  Berry.3 

VI.   Elizabeth  Shipley  married  Thomas  Sparrow.4  They 
removed,  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  to  Kentucky  and  set- 

1  E.  g.  Nicolay  and  Hay  in  Cent.  Mag.,  November,  1886,  vol.  xxxiii,  p.  14. 
These  errors  have  all  been  clearly  pointed  out  by  H.  M.Jenkins  in  Penn.  Hist. 
Mag.,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  130. 

2  A  Robert  Mitchell,  born  in  Londonderry  in  Ireland  in  the  late  seventeenth 
century,  whose  family  had  suffered  greatly  in  the  noted  siege  of  that  city  in 
1690,  married  Mary  Tunis  of  Edinburgh,  came  to  America  and  settled  at 
Pequea,  Lancaster  County,  Penn. ;  they  had  thirteen  children  ;  removed  to 
Bedford  County,  Virginia,  where  they  grew  up  and  married.  Robert,  the  hus- 
band of  Sarah  Shipley,  was  probably  a  grandson  of  the  emigrant.  The  youngest 
of  these  children  was  Rev.  James  R.  Mitchell  (born  29  January,  1747),  whose 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  Walthall,  is  authority  for  above  in  letter,  24  February, 
1895,  to  Mrs.  C.  H.  Hitchcock. 

3  Her  son,  Squire  Mitchell  Thompson  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  it  was  whose  in- 
sistence upon  the  search  of  the  Washington  County  records  brought  to  light 
the  proofs  of  the  marriage  of  Thomas  and  Nancy  (Hanks)  Lincoln,  setting 
at  rest  forever  the  slanders  regarding  the  legitimacy  of  the  President's  birth. 
These  facts  are  stated  on  the  authority  of  Mrs.  C.  S.  H.  Vawter  of  Indian- 
apolis, granddaughter  of  the  captive,  in  letter,  8  October,  1895,  to  Mrs.  C.  H. 
Hitchcock.  See  also  Louisville,  Ky.,  Courier  "Journal,  20  February,  1874. 

4  Perhaps  from  Bedford  County,  Virginia.  A  James  Wright  Sparrow  was 
living  there  in  1784. 


108    THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

tied  in  Washington  County.  In  1817  they  rejoined  Thomas 
and  Nancy  (Hanks)  Lincoln  at  Gentryville,  Ind.,  where  both 
parents  succumbed  to  a  fatal  malarial  epidemic  in  October, 
181 8,  having  had  a  daughter,  Nancy  Sparrow  (confused 
with  Nancy  Hanks  by  some  of  the  early  biographers),  who 
married  Charles  Friend,1  brother  of  Jesse  Friend,  who  mar- 
ried Polly  Hanks  (daughter  of  Joseph).  See  Hanks  family, 
page  122. 

VII.  Nancy  Shipley  married  Joseph  Hanks  of  Greenbriar 
County,2  Virginia,  and  in  1789  they  too  joined  the  tide  of 
adventurers  to  Kentucky  and  united  their  fortunes  with  their 
relatives  in  Washington  County.  They  had  issue  eight  chil- 
dren.  See  Hanks  family,  page  1 1 9. 

HERRING 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  tardy  realisation  of  the  great 
importance  of  this  family,  the  almost  utter  lack  of  co-opera- 
tion of  its  living  members,  and  the  deplorable  condition  of 
the  records  of  Augusta  and  Rockingham  counties  in  Virginia, 
have  conspired  to  prevent  any  but  the  most  brief  and  unsatis- 
factory sketch  where  it  would  have  been  the  writers'  desire 
to  have  compiled  an  exhaustive  and  accurate  pedigree,  strongly 
buttressed  with  details  and  dates.  As  it  is,  the  history  has  to 
be  told  almost  entirely  from  the  recollections  of  two  members 
of  the  family  of  what  they  in  turn  had  heard  from  their  rela- 
tives who  had  been  old  people  in  their  youth.3 

1  Charles  and  Nancy  (Sparrow)  Friend  were  the  parents  of  the  irresponsible 
and  unreliable  Dennis  Friend,  one  of  the  President's  youthful  associates,  who, 
assuming  the  name  of  Dennis  Hanks,  did  much  to  complicate  the  already  dif- 
ficult problem  of  the  Hanks  genealogy,  which  the  mendacity  of  his  declining 
years  still  further  confused. 

2  Now  in  West  Virginia.  Greenbriar  County  was  set  off  from  Augusta  County, 
as  was  also  Rockingham  County,  the  home  of  the  Lincolns. 

3  My  special  thanks  are  due  to  my  valued  and  venerable  friend,  Major 
George  Chrisman  of  Chrisman  Post  Office,  Rockingham  County,  Va.,  for  in- 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  109 

John  Herring,  the  first  of  the  family  in  Virginia,  is  said 
to  have  run  away  to  sea  as  a  boy,  in  the  earlier  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  to  have  drifted  to  Virginia,  where,  by 
the  influence  of  relatives  in  England,  he  secured  a  grant  from 
King  George  II '  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  beautiful  but 
then  savage-infested  region  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

It  has  become  family  tradition  that  he  was  a  cadet  of  the 
same  stock  as  the  well-known  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  of 
this  period,2  but  this  requires  further  confirmation  before  being 
put  forward  as  a  fact. 

With  his  family  and  retainers  he  took  possession  of  his 
wild  feudal  domain  and  built  a  fort  at  Heronford,3  where  he 
defended  himself  in  many  sanguinary  encounters  with  the 
Indians,  cultivated  his  plantations,  and  reared  a  large  family. 
The  names  of  only  four  sons  have  come  down  to  us.  All  of 
them  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War  under  Light  Horse 
Harry  Lee,4  who,  after  the  close  of  hostilities,  was  a  frequent 
visitor  at  the  house,  and  of  whom  many  anecdotes  are  told  in 
the  family  which  would  be  out  of  place  in  these  pages. 

The  sons  of  JOHN  HERRING  were  :  — 

I.   Bethuel  Herring,  who  married Irven  (or  Er- 

win),  and  had  seven  children :    1 .  Bethuel,  who  was  still  living 

valuable  assistance  in  this  quest.  He  is  third  cousin  of  the  President,  being  son 
of  George  Harrison  Chrisman  by  Martha  Herring,  daughter  of  Alexander  Her- 
ring, only  son  of  William,  who  was  brother  of  Leonard  Herring,  the  father  of 
Bathsheba,  wife  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  grandfather  of  the  President.  (See 
p.  79.)  J.  H.  L. 

1  King  George's  reign  extended  from  June,  1727,  to  October,  1760. 

2  Thomas  Herring,  S.  T.  P.,  born  about  1691.  He  had  been  Dean  of 
Rochester,  1732,  Bishop  of  Bangor,  1737,  Archbishop  of  York,  1743,  and 
was  confirmed  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  24  November,  1747.  He  died  at 
Croydon  in  county  Surrey,  13  March,  1757,  aged  sixty-six. 

3  Now  still  remaining  in  the  possession  of  Thomas  Herring,  a  descendant. 

4  General  Henry  Lee  of  the  Continental  Army,  father  of  the  distinguished 
Confederate  commander,  General  Robert  E.  Lee. 


no   THE   ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

in  1794  and  then  holding  273  acres  of  land  in  Rockingham 
County;  2.  John;  3.  William;  4.  Philander;  5.  Edith; 
6.  Betsey;    7.  Jane. 

II.  John  Herring,  killed  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

III.  Leonard  Herring  married  a  lady  of  whom  the  only 
recollection  that  remains  is  that  she  was  a  Scotch  Presbyte- 
rian. By  her  he  had  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  of  whom 
the  memory  of  only  one  has  been  preserved.  He  has  been 
said  to  have  "  gone  West "  with  his  family  in  1782.1  The  one 
child  remaining  to  our  knowledge  was  — 

Bathsheba  Herring,  born  at  Bridgewater  at  the  old  Her- 
ring plantation  in  Rockingham  County  and,  at  some  time 
previous  to  1779,  married  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  emigrant 
to  Kentucky  and  grandfather  of  the  President.  "  Her  aristo- 
cratic father  looked  with  scorn  on  the  alliance,  and  gave  his 
daughter  the  choice  of  giving  up  her  lover  or  being  disin- 
herited. The  high-spirited  young  woman  did  not  hesitate. 
She  married  the  man  she  loved  and  went  with  him  to  the 
savage  wilds  of  Kentucky  in  1782.  .  .  .  Bathsheba  Herring 
was  a  woman  of  fine  intelligence  andstrong  character.  She  was 
greatly  loved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  her."  2  She  was 
still  living  and  an  invalid  in  Virginia  in  September,  1781, 
and  probably  accompanied  her  husband  over  the  Wilderness 
Road  into  Kentucky  the  following  year,  and  not  long  after 
succumbed  to  the  hardships  of  the  rude  life  of  the  frontier.3 

IV.  William  Herring  was  living  and  held  516  acres  of 

land  in  1794.4  He  married Stephenson5  of  Highland 

County,  and  had  an  only  son  — 

1  The  date  of  this  removal  suggests  a  possible  confusion  with  the  migration 
of  the  Lincolns  in  that  year. 

2  Letter  of  Charles  Griffin  Herring  of  Harrisonburg,  Va.,  15  Sept.,  1908. 

3  See  American  Pedigree,  p.  79. 

4  Rockingham  County  Land  Book. 

s  A  William  Herring  and  Hannah  Robertson  were   married  by  Benjamin 


COGNATE   FAMILIES 


in 


Alexander  Herring,  who  married  Margaret  Smith,1  by 
whom  he  had  issue  ten  children:  viz.,  i.  John;  2.  Alex- 
ander; 3.  William;  4.  Stephenson;  5.  Daniel;  6.  Eliza; 
7.  Rebecca;  8.  Margaret  Davis  ;  9.  Ann  Harrison;  10.  Mar- 
tha, who  married  George  Harrison  Chrisman  of  Edom,2  by 
whom  she  had  issue  seven  children :  viz.,  1 .  Herring  Chris- 
man,  born  1823,  now  of  Mapleton,  Iowa,  aged  eighty-five; 
2.  Dr.  Burke  Chrisman;3  3.  William;  4.  Joseph;  5.  Mar- 
garet Ann  ;  6.  Martha  Gratton  ;  7.  George  Chrisman,  born 
1 83 1,  now  living,  of  Chrisman  Post  Office,  Rockingham 
County,  Va.,  aged  seventy-seven.4 

Little  remains  to  add.  Two  fragmentary  deeds,  apparently 
without  date,  exist  in  the  ruined  files  of  the  Harrisonburg 
County  Office,  of  which  one  represents  a  conveyance  by  Eliza- 
beth, the  widow,  and  her  children,  Elizabeth,  Rebecca,  Edith, 
Margaret,  and  William,  heirs-at-law  of  William  Herring, 
of  225  acres  of  land  to  Alexander  Herring.  This  land 
had  been  conveyed  to  William  in  1770. 

The  other  deed  is  from  a  Leonard  Herring  and  wife 
Abigail,  in  1800,  to  some  parties  omitted,  for  some  un- 
known reason,  by  our  correspondent.  This  recites  that  the 

Erwin,  8  January,  1787,  but  probably  another  William.  This  was  the  only 
Herring  marriage  found  in  the  Rockingham  County  records. 

1  Sister  of  Judge  Daniel  Smith,  who  held  a  record  of  fifty  years  on  the 
bench,  with  only  one  decision  reversed  by  the  Superior  Court. 

2  George  H.  Chrisman's  brother,  Joseph  Chrisman,  married  Elizabeth  Lin- 
coln, and  had  one  son,  John  Chrisman  ;  they  removed  to  Lafayette  County, 
Missouri,  about  1837.  She  was  daughter  of  Jacob  Lincoln  of  Lacey's  Spring, 
Va.,  who  was  brother  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  emigrant  to  Kentucky. 

3  Dr.  Burke  Chrisman,  about  1883,  made  some  investigations  in  London 
which  led  him  to  believe  in  the  tradition  of  the  connection  with  the  Arch- 
bishop, but  no  steps  ever  seem  to  have  been  taken  to  verify  this. 

4  Our  principal  informant  and  authority  on  the  Herring  pedigree.  The 
exact  connection  with  the  President's  family  may  be  traced  in  the  above  gene- 
alogy. 


ii2   THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

said  Leonard  was  son  of  Alexander  Herring,  who  had 
died  intestate,  leaving  said  Leonard  his  heir-at-law.  The 
88-acre  tract  conveyed  by  this  was  conveyed  to  him  (qucere 
Leonard  or  his  father  Alexander  ?)  in  1780;  Leonard,  the 
son,  is  recorded  on  the  Rockingham  County  Land  Book  as 
holding  this  88  acres  and  another  tract  of  230  acres  in  1794. 
The  above  seem  to  show  no  affiliation  with  the  members 
of  the  family  in  the  pedigree  given,  and  no  doubt  represent 
a  younger  generation  of  one  of  the  two  elder  lines. 

HANKS 

While  the  indefatigable  researches  of  a  member  of  the 
Hanks  family  '  have  forever  silenced  by  overwhelming  and 
cumulative  proof  the  vicious  and  unclean  fabrications  and 
slanders  which  cast  doubt  on  the  parentage  of  the  mother  of 
the  President,  it  is  greatly  to  be  deplored  that  the  ascending 
line  of  her  ancestry,  beyond  her  parents,  still  remains  without 
positive  proof.  Two  theories  have  been  propounded,  of  which 
both  will  be  given  here  as  worthy  of  respectful  attention,  but 
of  which  neither  can  be  accepted  by  the  writers  as  demon- 
strated beyond  the  reasonable  doubt  caused  by  lack  of  com- 
plete proof.  In  other  words,  we  still  lack  legal  demonstration 
of  the  paternity  of  Joseph  Hanks,  husband  of  Nancy  Shipley 
and  father  of  Nancy  Hanks,  the  mother  of  the  President. 

It  seems  very  probable  that  the  greater  part,  although  not 
all,  of  the  family  of  the  name  in  America  were  derived  from 
one  — 

John  Hanks,  who  was  of  Plymouth,  Mass.,  in  1632  and  in 
the  following  year,  with  Manassah  Kempton,  took  the  inven- 

1  Mrs.  Caroline  Hanks  Hitchcock,  author  of  Nancy  Hanks,  the  Story  of 
Abraham  Lincoln's  Mother,  New  York,  1 900,  also  preparing  a  MS.  Genealogy 
of  the  Hanks  family,  to  which  and  to  Mrs.  Hitchcock  we  beg  again  to  tender 
our  most  cordial  thanks  for  kindly  and  generous  aid  rendered  in  our  work  in 
both  the  Lincoln  and  Hanks  names. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  113 

tory  of  the  estate  of  William  Wright,1  deed.  His  name  dis- 
appears from  the  Plymouth  records,  and  he  may  have  removed 
to  Hadley,  Mass.,  and,  as  John  Hawkes  in  the  records,  been 
father  of  Eliezer  and  Sarah,  the  latter  of  whom  married  Philip 
Mattoone;  other  children  may  have  been  Edward  Hanks 
of  Marshfield,  servant  to  Governor  Winslow,  who  lived  near 
Carsewell  Creek,  and  Samuel  Hanks,  whose  house  is  named 
in  running  the  line  between  Marshfield  and  Duxbury. 

Benjamin  Hanks,  born  about  1665,  appears  with  wife 
Abigail  in  Pembroke,  Plymouth  County,  Mass.,  in  1699  ;  is 
said  to  have  come  from  England  in  that  year,  but  it  seems 
much  more  plausible  that  he  was  a  descendant  of  John 
Hanks  of  1633  through  Eliezer,  Edward,  or  Samuel. 

His  wife  Abigail  having  died,  he  married  a  second  time, 
22  March,  1727,  Mary,  widow  of  William  Ripley  of 
Bridgewater,  then  aged  forty-nine.  He  removed  about  1727 
to  Easton,  Mass.,  and  in  1736  back  to  Plymouth,  where 
he  purchased  the  Island  of  Saguish  in  Plymouth  harbour, 
where  he  died  9  January,  1755,  in  his  ninetieth  year,  and  his 
widow,  Mary,  21  October,  1760,  in  her  eighty-third. 

Children  of  BENJAMIN  and  ABIGAIL  HANKS 
were :  — 

I.  Abigail,  born  8  June,  1701. 
II.   Benjamin,  born  16  July,  1702;  of  whom  hereafter. 

III.  William,  born  1 1  February,  1704  ;  of  whom  hereafter. 

IV.  Nathaniel,  born  15  April,  1705  ;  married  Ann , 

and  had  one  son,  Abiah,  who  probably  died  young. 

V.  Anna,  born  14  November,  1706;  married,  7  January, 
1732,  John  Norris  of  Kingston,  Mass.,  and  had  one  daughter. 

1  William  Wright  had  come  to  Plymouth  in  the  "Fortune,"  1621.  In  his 
will,  dated  16  September,  1633,  he  refers  to  Governor  William  Bradford 
as  "brother,"  and  Samuel  Fuller,  in  his  will  proved  30  July,  1638,  names 
"  brother  Wm.  Wright "  and  his  wife  Priscilla,  perhaps  both  intended  as 
brothers  in  the  Lord,  so  frequent  in  Puritan  writings. 


ii4   THE  ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

VI.   Mary,  born  14  February,  1708;   married  John  Sim- 
mons. 

VII.  John,  born  22  October,  1709;  married,  1  6  January, 
1734,  Mary  Delano,  by  whom  he  had  John  and  Nathaniel ; 
resided  at  Duxbury  ;  died  1742  and  administration  granted  to 
widow,  Mary,  6  September  of  that  year. 
VIII.  Elizabeth, born  5  March,  171 1  ;  married,  27  October, 
1 73 1,  Nehemiah  Pearce. 

IX.   Rachel,  born  2  May,  171 2;  probably  died  young. 

X.  Joanna,  born  9  October,  171  3  ;  probably  died  young. 

XI.  James,  born  24  February,  171 5,  at  Bridgewater;  had 

by   wife  Abigail:    1.  Joseph,  born    1743;   2.  Hannah,  born 

1745;  3.  Sarah,  born  1748  ;  4.  Huldah,  killed  in  French  and 

Indian  wars,  1756.1 

Child  of  BENJAMIN  and  MARY  ( )  HANKS. 

XII.  Jacob,  born  at  Easton  about  1717;  married,  25  July, 
1753,  Sarah  Bruce,  and  had  nine  children. 

II.  Benjamin  Hanks,  son  of  Benjamin  and  Abigail 
Hanks,  born  16  July,  1702;  married  Mary  White,  daughter 
of  Richard  and  Catherine  White,  23  April,  1724,  at  Marsh- 
field;  removed  to  Mansfield  1746,  but  died  at  North  Easton 
9  January,  1755,  and  his  widow  at  North  Easton  25  Octo- 
ber, 1760.  Children  of  Benjamin  and  Catherine  (White) 
Hanks  were:  1.  Isaac,  born  1725;  2.  Abigail,  born  1726; 
3.  William,  born  1728;  4.  John,  born  1730;  5.  Richard 
White,  born  1734;  6.  Uriah,  born  1736;2  7.  Benjamin,  born 
1738;  8.  Mary,  born  1741  ;  9.  Silas,  born  1744;  10.  Rachel, 
died  at  North  Easton,  18  April,  1756. 

III.  William    Hanks,   son   of  Benjamin    and    Abigail 

1  Mitchell's  Hist.  Bridgewater,  Mass. 

2  A  Uriah  Hanks  with  wife  Lurancy  came  from  Birmingham,  England,  1 700, 
to  Plymouth  with  two  infant  children,  Benjamin  and  John.  Compare  this  very 
unusual  Christian  name. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  115 

Hanks,  born  at  Pembroke,  Mass.,  11  February,  1704,  and, 
"  according  to  statements  and  traditions  of  various  members  of 
the  family,"  ■  removed  to  Virginia  and  settled  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Rappahannock  River,  where  his  sons — 1.  Abraham; 
2.  Richard;  3.  James;  4.  John;  and  5.  Joseph — were  born. 
All  of  these  sons,  except  John,  were  said  to  have  removed  to 
Amelia  County  about  1740,  when  the  eldest  of  them  could 
not  have  been  above  sixteen  years  of  age  and  the  youngest 
an  infant  in  arms.  This  has  been  pointed  out  by  a  recently 
deceased  genealogist,2  and  in  face  of  these  facts  we  feel  re- 
luctantly compelled  to  relinquish  the  line  of  Plymouth  an- 
cestry, as  deduced  through  William,  as  utterly  untenable. 

Moreover,  Joseph  Hanks,  who,  in  January,  1747,  was 
selling  lands  on  the  Cellar  Creek  in  Amelia  County,  Vir- 
ginia, would  have  been  too  old  for  identification  with 
Joseph,  the  son  of  William,  who  could  not  possibly  have 
been  of  age  at  that  date,  while  he  would  also  have  been  too 
old  for  identification  with  the  Joseph  Hanks,  father  of 
Nancy  Hanks,  the  mother  of  the  President,  as  we  know  her 
to  have  been  born  in  February,  1784,  when  this  Joseph  must 
have  been  upwards  of  sixty  years  old.  So  that,  in  either  case, 
this  pedigree  fails  us  in  its  present  form,  although  further 
evidence  may  supply  the  missing  link  between  William,  born 
at  Pembroke  in  1704,  and  Joseph,  the  father  of  Nancy,  who 
died  in  1793. 

On  the  whole,  a  much  more  probable  derivation  of  Nancy 
Hanks's  father  would  seem  to  have  been  from  a  family  of 
Hanke,3  who  resided  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
the  Lincolns  and  Boones  in  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania, 
and  many  of  whom  we  know  to  have  gone  also  to  Virginia 

1  Nancy  Hanks,  pp.  20-21. 

2  Howard  M.  Jenkins  in  Penn.  Hist.  Mag.,  July,  1900,  vol.  xxiv,  p.  130. 

3  The  spelling  of  the  name  is  a  negligible  quantity  before  the   nineteenth 
century. 


n6    THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

in  the  great  southward  migration  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
An  account  of  this  family  will  then  be  in  order,  that  we 
may  complete  our  survey  of  the  possible  ancestry  of  Nancy 
Hanks  so  far  as  the  evidences  have  been  brought  to  light. 
The  earliest  of  these  people  whom  we  find  in  Pennsylvania 
was  — 

Luke  Hank  from  Sawley,  county  Derby,  England,  who 
patented  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Chester  County  (the 
part  now  Delaware  County),  21  August,  1684,1  three  hun- 
dred acres  of  this  being  in  Darby  and  two  hundred  in  New 
Town.  He  died  before  1737,  and  it  seems  uncertain  whether 
he  ever  resided  upon  his  lands  or,  indeed,  ever  came  to 
America,  but  his  son  — 

John  Hank  was  of  Darby,  Penn.,  and  was  taxed  there 
1732;  named  as  "cousin"  in  will  of  John  Hanke  of  White- 
marsh  (of  whom  later),  dated  1  2  December,  1730  ;  and  was  a 
witness  of  the  marriage  of  the  same  John's  widow  in  March, 
1733.  He  was  a  Quaker  and  received  certificate  of  removal 
from  Philadelphia  to  Burlington,  N.  J.,  5  February,  1738. 
He  had  already  married  there,  22  September,  1737,  Rebecca 
Brian,  daughter  of  Thomas  Brian,  late  of  Northampton  town- 
ship, Burlington  County,  N.  J.,  deceased.  He  had  certificate 
from  Burlington  to  Leicester,  England,  1744,  which  was  re- 
turned in  1753  to  Burlington,  having  never  been  presented, 
which  was  the  "  cause  of  considerable  discussion  in  the  meet- 
ing," but  he  brought  a  certificate  from  that  place;  from  Bur- 
lington he  removed  to  Haddonfield  16  October,  1757,  and 
in  1767  from  Evesham  to  Burlington  again,  where  he  died 
and  administration  was  granted,  21  July,  1772,2  to  his  son 
John  Hank.  John  and  Rebecca  (Brian)  Hanke  had  issue 
two  children  :    1.  Hannah,  named  in  the  certificate  of  1757; 

1  Recorded  at  Medea,  Chester  County,  Book  D,  p.  440. 

2  Trenton,  N.  J.,  records,  Book  37,  p.  282. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  117 

2.  John,  who  married  Rachel  Ewing.  The  family  disappears 
from  the  Burlington  records  after  1770.1 

John  Hanke  of  Whitemarsh,  Philadelphia  County,2  yeo- 
man, was  most  probably  the  brother  of  Luke  Hank  before 
named.3  He  married  at  Gwynedd,  1  1  December,  1 7 1 1 ,  Sarah 
Evans,  daughter  of  Cadwallader  and  Ellen  (Morris)  Evans,4 
by  whom  he  had  eight  children,  and  who,  surviving  him,  re- 
married at  Gwynedd,  6  March,  1732-33,  Thomas  Williams 
of  Montgomery  township  (her  marriage  being  witnessed  by 
her  five  eldest  children).  John  Hanke's  will,  dated  12  De- 
cember, 1730,  proved  31  May,  1 73 1 ,  mentions  a  "cousin 
John  Hank,"  who  was  certainly  the  son  of  the  Luke  Hank 
already  mentioned,  and  presumably  nephew  of  the  testator 
rather  than  his  cousin  as  stated,5  thus  identifying  him  with 
the  Derbyshire  family. 

Children  of  JOHN  and  SARAH   (EVANS)  HANKE. 
I.   John  Hanke,  born  20  November,  171  2,  at  Gwynedd. 
Had  wife  Margaret ,  by  whom  he  had  issue:  1.  Joshua,6 

1  For  most  of  the  particulars  relating  to  this  family  we  are  indebted  to  the 
MS.  notes  of  Mrs.  Caroline  Hanks  Hitchcock. 

2  Now  Montgomery  County. 

3  See  notes  on  will  of  this  John,  infra. 

4  Cadwallader  Evans,  son  of  Evan  ap  Evan,  the  youngest  of  four  emigrating 
brothers  in  1698,  was  born  in  Wales,  1664,  died  at  Gwynedd,  Penn.,  20  May, 
1745.   See  pedigree  in  Jenkins's  Hist.  Gwynedd,  pp.  145—154. 

s  The  loose  use  of  this  term  for  all  degrees  of  relationship  is  most  confus- 
ing. In  this  case  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  relations  were  those  of 
uncle  and  nephew,  the  ages  of  the  parties  and  other  circumstances  all  pointing 
to  that  connection.  In  this  case  John  Hanke,  the  testator,  would  have  been 
brother  of  Luke  of  Derbyshire. 

6  Comparison  of  the  name  of  Joshua  among  the  sons  of  this  John  Hanke 
with  Joshua,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  brother  of  Nancy  Hanks,  suggests  the 
strong  probability  of  Joseph  having  been  a  younger  son  of  John  and  brother 
of  this  Joshua,  for  whom  his  own  son  may  well  have  been  named.  The  family 
removed  to  Rockingham  County,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Lincolns, 
adding  greatly  to  the  probabilities. 


n8    THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

who  died  at  Gwynedd,  31  July,  1758;  2.  Hannah,  who  mar- 
ried Asa  Lupton  (born  1757),  son  of  William  and  Grace 
(Pickering)  Lupton  of  Frederick  County,  Maryland,  re- 
sided in  Rockingham  County,  Virginia ;  and  very  probably 
others.  He  lived  six  miles  east  of  Reading,  within  a  half-mile 
of  the  house  of  Mordecai  Lincoln.  Removed  to  Virginia.1 
II.  Jane  Hanke,  born  12  October,  171 4.  Married,  at 
Gwynedd,  13  May,  1736,  John  Roberts  (born  171 4)  of 
Whitpain,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Edwards)  Roberts,2 
and  died  9  August,  1745. 

III.  Elizabeth  Hanke,  born  28  January,  1716;  living 

1733- 

IV.  William  Hanke,  born  1719;  died  an  infant. 

V.  William  Hanke,  born  12  November,  1720;  living 

!733- 

VI.  Samuel  Hanke,  born  15  March,  1723.  Of  Burling- 
ton, N.  J. ;  married  there,  26  October,  17 — ,  by  licence,  to 
Sarah  Going. 

VII.  Joseph  Hanke,  born  1725.  He  was  living  and  wit- 
ness to  will  of  John  Edward  of  Montgomery  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, dated  9  April,  1749.  He  probably  went  to  Virginia 
with  the  other  members  of  the  family,  but  it  seems  impos- 
sible that  he  could  have  been  the  father  of  Nancy  Hanks, 
as  he  would  have  been  fifty-nine  years  old  at  the  time  of  her 
birth  in  1 784.3 

VIII.  Sarah  Hanke,  born  8  October,  1728  ;  she  removed 
to  Burlington,  N.  J.,  in  August,  1752,  and  was  afterwards  dis- 
owned by  the  Quakers  and  probably  married  out  of  meeting. 

1  Hist.  Gwynedd,  p.  373. 

2  John  Roberts,  the  father,  was  fourth  son  of  Robert  Cadwallader,  who 
came  to  Pennsylvania  at  an  advanced  age  with  his  family  from  North  Wales  in 
1 700  and  settled  at  Gwynedd,  being  preceded  by  his  three  elder  sons.  Op.  cit., 
pp.  197-203. 

3  See  p.  122. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  119 

Joseph  Hanks,  the  father  of  Nancy  Hanks,  was  almost 
certainly  descended  from  John  Hanke  of  Gwynedd  and 
Whitemarsh,  but  we  can  say  with  equal  certainty  that  he 
was  not  the  son  of  that  John  who  was  born  at  Gwynedd  in 
1725,  but  he  may  have  been  the  son  of  either  John,  William, 
Samuel,  or  Joseph,  the  four  surviving  sons  of  John.  Of  these 
the  probabilities  seem  to  point  most  strongly  to  John,  as  he 
is  known  to  have  been  in  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Lincolns  (with  whom 
he  doubtless  went  to  Virginia  in  1768),  and  also  from  the 
coincidence  of  the  name  of  Joshua  among  both  their  chil- 
dren. 

All  authorities  agree  that  his  wife  was  Nancy  Shipley, 
the  daughter  of  Robert  Shipley,1  an  Englishman  who  had 
settled  in  Lunenburg  County,  Virginia,2  in  1765.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  also  of  Amelia  County,3  and  the  deeds  found 
there  show  a  flourishing  colony  of  Hankses  in  that  region,4 
—  Joseph,  Abraham,  Richard,  and  James,  all  brothers;  but, 
although  we  here  find  a  Joseph  who  could  have  just  been 
identified  in  point  of  age  with  the  son  of  John  of  White- 
marsh  born  in  1 725,  as  he  would  have  been  twenty-two  at  the 
signing  of  his  earliest  deed,  1  2  January,  1 747,  yet  the  latter  had 
no  brothers  Abraham,  Richard,  or  James,  and  it  seems  to  the 
writers  more  probable  that  it  is  to  Rockingham  County  that 
we  must  look  for  our  Joseph's  birth  and  parentage.  Future 
and  more  thorough  investigation  will  no  doubt  make  all  clear. 

Whether  from  Amelia,  Bedford,  or  Rockingham  county, 
it  is  at  least  certain  that  Joseph  Hanks,  with  his  kinsfolk  by 

1  See  Shipley  family,  p.  108. 

a  Shackford  says  North  Carolina,  but  the  patent  of  land  seems  to  prove 
conclusively  that  it  was  Virginia.  (See  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  April,  1887.) 

3  There  were  also  Hankses  in  the  records  of  Bedford  County,  which  had  been 
set  off  from  Amelia. 

4  Hitchcock's  Nancy  Hanks,  pp.  21-24. 


i2o   THE   ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

marriage,  —  the  Lincolns,  the  Berrys,  the  Mitchells,  and  the 
Sparrows,  —  had  all  come  over  the  mountains  into  Kentucky 
during  the  1780's,  and  that  the  last  three  had  settled  near  the 
present  town  of  Springfield  in  Washington  County,  where  the 
family  of  the  murdered  Abraham  Lincoln  had  afterward  taken 
refuge  among  them. 

Joseph  Hanks  lived  but  a  few  years  after  his  emigration  to 
Kentucky  in  1789.  He  had  settled  in  Nelson  County,  where 
he  died  in  1793.  His  will,  dated  9  January,  was  proved  14 
May  of  that  year.  His  wife,  Nancy  Shipley,  or  Nannie  as  he 
affectionately  calls  her,  survived  him  and,  with  his  son  Wil- 
liam, executed  the  will. 

Children  of  JOSEPH  and  NANCY  (SHIPLEY) 
HANKS. 

I.  William  Hanks,  probably  the  eldest  son,  was  living 
and  executor  with  his  mother  of  his  father's  estate  in  1793. 
He  married,  1  2  September,  1  793,  at  Bardstown,  Ky.,  Elizabeth 
Hall,1  by  whom  he  had  eleven  children,  all  born  in  Elizabeth- 
town,  Ky. :  1.  James,  born  1794,  married  and  had  issue; 
2.  Elizabeth;  3.  Nancy;  4.  Charles,  married  and  had  issue; 
5.  William;  6.  Celia ;  7.  Joseph;  8.  John,  born  1802,  mar- 
ried Susan  Wilson  Nie,  removed  to  Spencer  County,  Indiana, 
thence  in  1828  to  Macon  County,  Illinois,  where  in  1830  he 
was  followed  by  the  Lincoln  family;  he  died  1  July,  1889, 
left  issue;2  9.  Lucinda,  born  27  February,  181 3,  married 
Thomas  Douglas,  died  1890  in  California;    10.  Sarah,  mar- 

1  Elizabeth  and  her  brothers,  Levi  Hall  (who  married  Elizabeth  Hanks)  and 
David  and  Henry  Hall,  were  of  a  Virginia  family  who  settled  at  Greens- 
burg,  a  few  miles  southwest  of  Washington  County,  Kentucky.  The  father 
was  killed  by  Indians,  and  his  widow  married  Caleb  Hazel,  by  whom  she 
had  four  children,  —  Richard,  Peter,  Caleb,  and  Lydia.  The  third  son,  Caleb 
Hazel,  was  Abraham  Lincoln's  early  teacher. 

2  The  well-known  John  Hanks,  the  cousin  and  boyhood  friend  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  his  companion  in  the  famous  rail-splitting. 


COGNATE   FAMILIES  121 

ried Brown  of  Illinois;  1 1.  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Mount 

Pleasant,  Iowa.  William  Hanks  removed  with  his  brother 
Joseph  and  Thomas  Lincoln  and  their  families  in  1 8  1 6  to 
Spencer  County,  Indiana,  where  other  of  their  relatives  fol- 
lowed them  in  1826.  He  afterward  went  to  Macon  County, 
Illinois,  near  Decatur,  where  he  died  in  1851  or  1852. 

II.  Thomas  Hanks  married  and  remained  in  Virginia 
until  1 80 1,  when  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Ross  County, 
Ohio.  He  had  seven  children:  1.  Peter;  2.  Absalom; 
3.  Isaac;   4.  William;    5.  Nancy;   6.  A  son  ;   7.  A  daughter. 

III.  Joshua  Hanks,  born  in  Virginia.  Married  and  lived 
in  Kentucky.  He  had  two  children:  1.  Absalom,  and  2.  A 
daughter. 

IV.  Charles  Hanks  lived  in  Kentucky.  Married  and  had 
four  children  :  i.Jane;  2.  John  ;  3.  Conrad;  4.  Nancy.  Of 
this  family  nothing  more  is  known. 

V.  Joseph  Hanks,  born  January,  1781.  Married,  10 
November,  18 10,  at  Elizabethtown,  Ky.,  Mary  (Polly) 
Young,  daughter  of  John  and  Susanna  Young  of  Hardin 
County,  Kentucky  (born  1793).  He  was  a  carpenter  and 
cabinet-maker,  and  of  him  Thomas  Lincoln  learned  his 
trade.  In  18 16  he  removed,  with  his  brother  WiHiam  and 
Thomas  Lincoln  and  their  families,  to  Spencer  County,  In- 
diana, and  in  1826  to  Sangamon  County,  Illinois,  later  to 
Adams  County,  near  Quincy,  where  he  died  4  April,  1856, 
and  his  widow  24  January,  1872.  He  had  twelve  children: 
1.  Jacob  Vertrees,  born  18  12,  had  issue;  2.  Elizabeth,  mar- 
ried James  Kirkpatrick;  3.  Susanna,  born  18 16;  4.  Nancy, 
born  1818,  married  William  Hoosier ;  5.  An  infant,  died 
young;  6.  Ditto;  7.  John  Henry,  born  1822,  had  issue; 
8.  Joseph,  born  1825,  had  issue;  9.  Mary  Ann,  born  1827, 
married  William  Hall;  '  10.  Amaltha  Jane,  born  1830,  mar- 
'  See  note  under  William  Hanks,  p.  120. 


122    THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

ried  Henry  Loper;    11.  Isabelle,  born  1833,  married ; 

12.   Caroline,  born  1836,  married  James  Hall.1 

VI.  Elizabeth  Hanks  (Betsey)  married  Levi  Hall,  bro- 
ther of  Elizabeth  Hall,  wife  of  William  Hanks,1  removed  to 
Spencer  County,  Indiana,  soon  after  her  brothers  and  sister, 
Nancy  Lincoln,  and  died  shortly  after  and  buried  beside 
her.  They  had  three  children:  1.  Squire  Hall,  married 
Matilda  Johnston,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Sarah  (Bush) 2 
Johnston,  and  had  nine  children;  2.  William  Hall,  married 
Mary  Ann  Hanks,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Young) 
Hanks ;  3.  James  Hall,  married  Caroline  Hanks,  sister  of  the 
last  named. 

VII.  Mary  Hanks  (Polly)  married,  1  o  December,  1 795,  at 
Elizabethtown,  Jesse  Friend.3 

VIII.  Nancy  Hanks,  born  5  February,  1784,  and  left  an 
orphan  at  her  parents'  death  in  1 793.  She  was  adopted  by  her 
aunt,  Lucy  (Shipley4)  Berry,  whose  husband,  Richard 
Berry,  became  her  legal  guardian,  and  at  whose  house  in 
Beechland,  Washington  County,  Ky.,  she  married,  1  2  June, 
1 806,  Thomas  Lincoln,  her  uncle,  Richard  Berry,  becoming 
surety  on  the  marriage  bond.  The  mother  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln.  Died  5  October,  1818. 

"All  that  I  am  or  hope  to  be  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother. 
Blessings  on  her  memory."5 

1  See  note  under  William  Hanks,  p.  120. 

2  The  second  wife  of  Thomas  Lincoln. 

3  His  brother,  Charles  Friend,  married  Nancy  Sparrow,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Elizabeth  (Shipley)  Sparrow,  and  had  a  son,  Dennis  Friend,  whose  sub- 
sequent assumption  of  the  name  of  Hanks  has  greatly  increased  true  popular 
confusion  in  the  Hanks  pedigree. 

4  See  Shipley  family,  p.  106. 

5  Abraham  Lincoln's  tribute  to  his  mother's  memory. 


CHAPTER  X 
THOMAS    LINCOLN  — THE    MAN 

THE  earlier  biographers  either  neglected  the  Presi- 
dent's father  altogether  and  passed  him  over  in  si- 
lence or  painted  him  as  a  good-natured  but  rather 
incapable  man,  unfortunate  in  most  of  his  undertakings,  but 
brave,  honest,  moral,  and  religious.1  With  later  sensational 
writers,  however,  posing  for  effect  to  the  galleries,  the  temp- 
tation to  exaggerate  if  not  to  invent,  to  deepen  the  shadows 
and  slur  over  the  better  parts,  to  magnify,  in  short,  the  great- 
ness of  the  son  by  besmirching  the  character  of  the  father,  has 
proved  too  strong  to  resist,  and  a  gross  and  grotesque  cari- 
cature, with  little  or  no  foundation  in  fact,  has  been  the  final 
and  shameful  result.2 

Let  us  take  a  brief  conspectus  of  the  life  of  Thomas  Lin- 
coln, from  his  desolate  and  orphaned  childhood  to  his  grave, 
and  see  how  far  this  harsh  criticism  is  just  or  how  much  of  it 
is  due  to  foolish  fable  or  vindictive  political  malice. 

Born  in  Virginia,  he  must  have  accompanied  his  father  as 
an  infant  of  about  two  years  on  his  emigration  to  Kentucky 
and  witnessed  his  murder  three  years  later,  only  escaping  cap- 
ture by  the  savages  through  the  accurate  aim  of  his  brother 
Mordecai.  Whether  or  not  his  mother,  Bathsheba,  took  re- 


I  u 


"A  good-natured  man  of  undoubted  integrity,  but  inefficient  in  making  his 
way  in  the  world  and  improvident"  (Holland's  Life,  p.  23).  "  An  easy-going 
man,  entirely  without  ambition  but  not  without  self-respect  "  (Nicolay  and 
Hay,  Life,  vol.  i,  p.  12  ;  Cent.  Mag.,  November,  1886,  vol.  xxxiii, p.  14.  See 
also  Arnold  and  Raymond). 

2  Herndon's   Life,  vol.  i,  p.   8;  Lamon's  Life,   pp.   8-19;  Morse's  Life, 
vol.  i,  pp.  9-15,  and  others. 


124   THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

fuge  with  him  in  Washington  County  after  the  tragedy  may 
never  be  known,  but  our  next  glimpse  of  him  is  obtained 
there  where,  abandoned  by  his  half-brothers,  he  found  a  re- 
fuge and  friends  among  the  relatives  of  his  father's  first  wife, 
the  Shipleys. 

Deserted  by  those  whose  natural  ward  he  was,  a  helpless 
child  in  perhaps  the  rudest  of  all  of  our  frontiers  at  any  pe- 
riod, Thomas  Lincoln  was  left  to  beg,  starve,  or  steal,  as  he 
might  elect,  by  his  unnatural  brethren.  That  the  first  two 
fates  did  not  overtake  him  was  due  to  the  kindly  hospitality 
of  his  step-aunts,  the  sisters  of  his  father's  first  wife ;  while  he 
was  guarded  from  the  last  dread  alternative  by  the  stern  and 
inflexible  Puritan  honesty  in  his  blood,  the  only  heritage  left 
him  of  his  Lincoln  ancestry.    •- 

Thrown  thus  upon  his  own  resources  in  a  wild  land  swarm- 
ing with  savage  beasts  and  still  more  savage  men,  he  reso- 
lutely took  up  a  life  of  hard  manual  labour  as  a  farm  boy,  in 
the  early  course  of  which  we  find  the  only  record  of  any  aid 
or  help  from  his  paternal  relatives,  as  we  learn  that  a  year 
of  his  youth  was  passed  at  Watauga  on  the  Holston  River  in 
Tennessee,  with  his  uncle,  Isaac  Lincoln;  but  we  may  gather 
that  the  bread  of  dependence  eaten  at  the  board  of  his  rela- 
tive was  stale  and  profitless,  as  we  so  soon  find  him  again  in 
Washington  County  among  those  already  proved  more  kind 
than  kin,  and  from  whom  he  never  separated  far  or  for  long 
again. 

With  a  courage  and  energy  that  have  been  so  little  appre- 
ciated, he  not  only  supported  himself  by  his  rude  and  ill- 
requited  tasks,  but  learned,  and  apparently  learned  well,1  the 

1  "  Had  the  best  set  of  tools  in  Washington  County  .  .  .  was  a  good  car- 
penter for  those  days  "  (Letter  of  Dr.  C.  C.  Graham,  see  Tarbell,  vol.  i,  p.  6). 
"  Was  a  good  carpenter"  (Letter  of  Rev.  T.  N.  Robertson,  Pastor  of  Little 
Pigeon  Church,  Cent.  Mag.,  November,  1 886,  Nicolay  and  Hay,  vol.  i,  p.  18). 


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THOMAS   LINCOLN  — THE   MAN    125 

trade  of  a  carpenter,  at  the  shop  of  Joseph  Hanks,  the  brother 
of  his  future  wife,  whose  name  may  serve  to  remind  us  that 
this  trade  was  the  one  dignified  beyond  all  others  throughout 
Christendom. 

He  had  in  some  way  managed,  during  this  period,  to  pick 
up  the  rudiments  of  an  education,  as  we  learn  by  finding  him 
signing  his  own  name  to  his  marriage  bond  in  a  firm,  bold 
hand,  not  altogether  unlike  that  so  characteristic  of  his  emi- 
nent son.1  He  had  also  shown  himself  so  thrifty  with  his 
small  savings  that,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  had  purchased 
a  farm 2  destined  to  be  the  future  birthplace  of  his  illustrious 
son  and  to  be  conserved  as  such  for  a  national  domain  forever. 

Near  Springfield  in  Washington  County,  pretty  Nancy 
Hanks  had  grown  up,  since  the  death  of  her  parents  in  1793, 
with  her  aunt,  Lucy  Shipley,  whose  worthy  husband,  Richard 
Berry,  had  become  her  guardian,3  and  probably  Thomas  Lin- 
coln had  been  a  frequent  visitor,  if  not  often  a  resident,  in 
his  house,  and  the  young  people  matured  together  as  cousins 
de  facto  if  not  actually  de  jure,  while  Thomas  Lincoln's  ap- 
prenticeship with  Nancy  Hanks's  elder  brother  must  have 
still  further  cemented  their  friendship.  Their  long  intimacy 
ripened  into  love,  and  they  were   married  4  at  the  home  of 

1  See  facsimile  of  marriage  bond  in  Mrs.  Hitchcock's  Nancy  Hanks,  p.  61, 
and  Tarbell's  Life,  vol.  i,  p.  II.   See  also  p.  85. 

2  "  A  fair  representative  section  of  the  land  in  its  immediate  region  ...  (in 
1890)  was  then  under  cultivation  and  yielding  an  average  crop  "  (Coffin). 
Now  known  as  Lincoln  Park.  "  Above  grade  of  ordinary  country  boy  to 
have  had  energy  and  ambition  to  learn  a  trade  and  secure  a  farm  through  his 
own  efforts  by  the  time  he  was  twenty-five"  (Tarbell,  vol.  i,  p.  14). 

3  It  has  been  asserted  that  one  Parrott  was  her  guardian,  but  he  was  in  fact 
only  witness  to  the  marriage  bond  signed  by  Richard  Berry  in  that  capacity. 

4  By  Rev.  Jesse  Head,  deacon  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  a  noted 
man  of  the  period,  —  preacher,  carpenter,  editor,  and  country  judge,  —  and  said 
to  have  been  imbued  with  ideas,  both  on  religion  and  slavery,  far  in  advance 
of  his  times  (Hitchcock's  Nancy  Hanks,  p.  59).  He  afterward  went  to  Har- 
rodsburg,  Ky.,  and  died  there  {Ibid.,  p.  67). 


126    THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

Richard  Berry  in  Beechland,  he  also  becoming  the  surety  on 
the  marriage  bond.  Their  wedding  was  celebrated  with  all 
the  rude  and  boisterous  hilarity  and  hospitality  of  the  times, 
a  detailed  account  of  which  has  come  down  to  us  from  an  eye- 
witness and  participant.1 

After  the  marriage  Thomas  Lincoln  took  his  bride  to 
Elizabethtown,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade  of  carpenter, 
probably  finding  ample  occupation  in  the  recently  founded 
and  rapidly  growing  town.2  At  this  place  was  born  their  first 
child,  the  daughter  Nancy  or  Sarah,  whose  early  and  pathetic 
death  is  elsewhere  recorded. 

The  following  year,  i  808,  they  removed  to  the  farm  which 
had  been  secured  by  Thomas  Lincoln  five  years  previous,  at 
Buffalo  on  the  Big  South  Fork  of  Nolin's  Creek,  three  miles 
from  Hodgensville  and  fourteen  from  Elizabethtown,  and 
here,  on  the  12th  of  February,  1809,  a  day  that  will  be  for- 
ever henceforward  celebrated  as  a  national  holiday  in  Amer- 
ica, was  born  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  greatest  figure  of  his 
century  and  one  of  the  grandest  of  all  history. 

In  1 8  1  3  the  family,  apparently  prospering,  moved  again  to 
a  fine  farm  of  238  acres  at  Muldraugh's  Hill  on  Knob  Creek, 
near  Rolling  Fork,3  and  only  a  short  distance  from  their 
first  more  humble  residence,  and  here  a  third  child  was  born, 
Thomas,  who  died  an  infant  and  was  there  buried.  At  this 
period  the  children,  Nancy  and  Abraham,  obtained  most  of 
their  scanty  schooling  of  Zachariah  Riney,  a  Catholic,  and 
Caleb  Hazel.4 

In  the  spring  of  18 16  Thomas  Lincoln  was  appointed  as 

1  Dr.  C.  C.  Graham  of  Louisville,  Ky.  (Tarbell,  vol.  i,  p.  10,  and  Nancy 
Hanks,  p.  65). 

2  It  had  been  laid  out  in  1793. 

3  His  selections  of  land  cannot  with  justice  be  cited  as  evidence  of  ineffi- 
ciency or  want  of  judgment  (Coffin). 

4  See  his  parentage  under  Hanks  family  in  Cognate  Families,  p.  120. 


THOMAS   LINCOLN  — THE   MAN    127 

the  road  surveyor  on  the  road  from  Nolin  to  Bardstown1  in 
place  of  George  Redman,  a  position  that  reflects  the  confi- 
dence of  his  neighbours,  and  recalls  the  fact  that  his  distin- 
guished son  eighteen  years  later  occupied  a  similar  charge  in 
Sangamon  County,  Illinois. 

Why  Thomas  Lincoln  abandoned  this  farm,  which  all  au- 
thorities agree  was  the  best  of  all  his  holdings,  will  never  be 
known  ;  but  it  seems  not  improbable  that  his  antipathy  to 
human  slavery  may  have  prompted  his  removal  beyond  the 
Ohio  into  a  free  state,2  to  which  motive  cause  we  may  add 
the  defective  land  titles  in  Kentucky  which  had  already 
operated  so  much  to  the  prejudice  of  the  great  discoverer, 
Boone  himself. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  in  1  8  1 6  he  had  determined  to  try  his 
fortunes  in  Indiana  and  set  out  on  a  prospecting  trip  upon  a 
flatboat  on  the  Ohio  River,  with  his  outfit  of  carpenter's 
tools  and  four  hundred  gallons  of  whiskey,  smoked  bear 
meat,  hams,  venison,  and  peltry,  in  which  he  had  shrewdly 
invested,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the  period,  as  a 
profitable  and  portable  form  of  capital.3  The  boat  was 
wrecked  on  the  journey,  but  Thomas  Lincoln  rescued  the 
greater  part  of  his  worldly  wealth  from  the  waters  and,  de- 

1  He  was  appointed  18  May,  1816  (Tarbell,  vol.  i,  p.  13). 

2  "  Thomas  and  Nancy  Lincoln  and  Sally  Bush  were  just  steeped  full  of 
Jesse  Head's  notions  about  the  wrong  of  slavery  and  the  rights  of  man  as  ex- 
plained by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Thomas  Paine  "  (Letter  of  Dr.  C.  C.  Gra- 
ham, see  Tarbell,  vol.  i,  p.  35).  "  He  shrank  from  seeing  his  children  grow 
up  in  a  community  cursed  with  slavery.  .  .  .  He  could  see  nothing  in  the 
future  but  labour  by  the  side  of  the  negro,  and  degradation  in  his  presence 
and  companionship"  (Holland,  vol.  i,  pp.  23-25). 

3  According  to  Dr.  Graham,  this  trip  down  the  Ohio  had  trade  at  New 
Orleans  as  its  objective,  from  which  he  was  only  deterred  by  the  loss  of  his 
vessel  and  much  of  her  cargo.  If  this  be  correct,  as  it  probably  is,  we  have 
here  another  example  of  Thomas  Lincoln's  uncredited  enterprise  (Letter  of 
Dr.  C.  C.  Graham,  see  Hitchcock's  Nancy  Hanks,  pp.  94-96). 


128    THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

positing  his  effects  with  a  worthy  settler  named  Posey,  he 
located  his  claim,  journeyed  to  Vincennes  (seventy  miles)  to 
enter  it,  and  returned  to  bring  his  family  to  the  home  of  his 
selection  on  free  soil  in  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  near  Gen- 
tryville,  wrhere  his  children  completed  such  schooling  as  they 
could  obtain  under  three  instructors,  named  Hazel  Dorsey, 
Andrew  Crawford,  and  "Mr."  Swaney,  the  latter  in  the  year 
1826,  when,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  the  future  President's 
scholastic  career  abruptly  ended. 

Great  suffering  and  many  misfortunes  marked  their  advent 
into  their  new  home,  and  much  has  been  made  of  the  fact 
that  for  the  first  year  of  their  life  in  Indiana  their  only  shel- 
ter was  a  "  half-faced  camp,"  which  did  duty  as  a  residence 
until  Thomas  Lincoln  could  clear  his  land,1  sow  the  seed  for 
his  first  harvest,  and  fell  and  shape  the  timber  for  his  house. 
This  camp,  however,  was  neither  better  nor  worse  than  the 
average  cabin  of  the  then  pioneer2  or,  indeed,  of  the  fron- 
tiersman of  our  own  day  in  the  yet  unsubdued  portions  of  the 
West.  The  climate  was  not  a  harsh  one,3  and  while  the  life 
was  certainly  one  of  great  hardship,  it  was  neither  unique  nor 
impossible  in  its  conditions.4 

Here  they  were  joined  by  Nancy's  sister,  Elizabeth  Hanks, 

1  "  It  is  all  stuff  about  Tom  Lincoln  keeping  his  wife  in  an  open  shed.  .  .  . 
Tom  Lincoln  was  a  man  and  took  care  of  his  wife  "  (Dr.  C.  C.  Graham, 
Tarbell,  vol.  i,  p.  14). 

2  See  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Barrett  of  Ohio,  in  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  xlviii, 

PP-  327-328- 

3  Gentryville  lies  a  little   further  south  than  Louisville,  Ky.,  a  fact  often 

lost  sight  of.  See  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  xlviii,  p.  328. 

4  "  There  was  nothing  ignoble  or  mean  in  this  Indiana  pioneer  life.  It  was 
rude,  but  only  with  the  rudeness  which  the  ambitious  are  willing  to  endure  in 
order  to  push  on  to  a  better  condition  .  .  .  there  was  nothing  belittling  in 
their  life  ;  there  was  no  pauperism,  no  shirking.  If  their  lives  lacked  culture 
and  refinement  they  were  rich  in  independence  and  self-reliance  "  (Tarbell's 
Life,  vol.  i,  p.  47). 


THOMAS   LINCOLN  — THE   MAN    129 

and  her  husband,  Thomas  Sparrow,  who  occupied  the  camp 
when  the  Lincolns  moved  into  their  nearly  completed  house. 
But  sorely  tried  Thomas  Lincoln  had  yet  worse  to  contend 
with  than  had  gone  before.  A  malignant  malarial  fever1  was 
now  epidemic  in  the  region,  and  the  Sparrows,  husband  and 
wife,  succumbed  to  it,  leaving  their  young  grandson2  to  the 
care  of  the  Lincolns;  but,  a  few  days  later,  Nancy  Lincoln 
also  fell  a  victim  to  the  deadly  disorder,  leaving  her  husband 
in  his  desolate  home  with  three  young  children  sadly  in  need 
of  a  mother's  care. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  however,  showed  himself  equal  to  this 
trying  situation.  At  Elizabethtown  in  Kentucky  there  lived 
a  worthy  woman  of  unusual  ability  and  force  of  character,3 
whom  he  had  known  in  his  earlier  life,  named  Sarah  Bush. 
She  had  subsequently  married  a  man  of  the  name  of  Daniel 
Johnston,4  who  had  been  the  jail-keeper  of  Hardin  County ; 
but  he  was  now  dead,  leaving  her  with  three  young  children, 
two  girls  and  a  boy.5 

Her  Thomas  Lincoln  wooed  and  won,  and  in  the  early 
winter  of  18  19  brought  home  his  new  wife,  with  an  ample 
marriage  portion  of   household  gear.6  Neither  he  nor  his 

1  Locally  known  as  the  "  milk  sick,"  believed  to  have  been  caused  by  poi- 
sonous herbs  eaten  by  the  milch  cattle. 

2  The  son  of  their  daughter,  Nancy  Sparrow,  who  had  married  Charles 
Friend  (the  brother  of  Jesse  Friend,  see  p.  108),  and  died  leaving  an  only  child 
called  Dennis  Friend,  who  afterward  assumed  the  name  of  Dennis  Hanks  (see 
p.  122),  causing  deplorable  confusion  in  the  true  understanding  regarding  the 
Hanks  family. 

3  "  His  choice  of  two  noble  women  as  his  successive  partners  in  life  indi- 
cates some  corresponding  quality  of  character"  (Binns's  Lincoln,  p.  7). 

4  Married  13  March,  1806,  and  who  died  in  April,  18 14  (Barrett's  Lincoln, 
p.  17). 

5  John  David,  Sarah,  and  Matilda  Johnston. 

6  He  had  paid  off  her  debts  in  full  before  their  marriage  (Letter  Samuel  Hay- 
croft,  clerk  of  Washington  County,  7  December,  1866:  Herndon,  vol.  i,p.  26). 


130   THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

children  had  ever  reason  to  regret  his  choice,  and  her  illus- 
trious stepson,  whose  wonderful  career  she  survived,  always 
spoke  of  her  with  only  less  reverence  and  affection  than  of 
his  own  sainted  mother.1 

Always  a  man  of  religious  mind  and  a  consistent  attendant 
at  such  churches  as  were  available,  he  now,  influenced  no 
doubt  by  the  recent  establishment  of  a  Baptist  Church  at 
Little  Pigeon  Creek,  became  a  member  of  it  in  1823,  fol- 
lowed three  years  later  by  his  daughter.  There  is  not  a  scin- 
tilla of  evidence  that  he  had  ever  been  connected  with  any 
other  sect  than  the  one  with  which  he  now  united  himself. 
If  this  form  of  worship  was  "unintellectual  and  unenlight- 
ened,"2 it  was  at  least  the  best  that  the  culture  of  the  time 
and  place  afforded,  and  he  remained  a  devout  member  of  it 
throughout  his  long  life.3  The  fact  that,  five  years  previous, 
it  had  been  a  twelvemonth  before  a  clergyman  could  be 
found  to  preach  the  funeral  sermon  at  the  grave  of  his  former 
wife4  speaks  volumes  for  the  poverty  of  the  religious  life  in 

1  "As  to  his  acuteness  and  his  perception  of  character,  certainly  the  selec- 
tions he  made  when  seeking  both  his  first  and  second  wives  stand  to  his  credit. 
Both  Nancy  Hanks  and  Sally  Bush  are  described  by  all  as  women  of  exceptional 
qualities  "  (H.  M.  Jenkins,  "The  Mother  of  Lincoln,"  in  Penn.  Mag.,  vol. 
xxiv,  p.  130). 

2  Morse,  vol.  i,  p.  14.  President  Garfield  and  Jeremiah  S.  Black  were  Baptists. 

3  "They  were  known  as  active  and  consistent  members  of  the  communion. 
A  walnut  table  made  by  him  is  still  preserved  as  part  of  the  furniture  of  the 
church"  (Letter  of  Rev.  T.  V.  Robertson,  Pastor  of  Little  Pigeon  Church, 
see  Cent.  Mag.,  November,  1886,  p.  20).  "A  church-goer  and,  if  tradition 
may  be  believed,  a  stout  defender  of  his  peculiar  religious  views"  (Hitchcock's 
Nancy  Hanks,  p.  56).  "He  was  a  consistent  member  through  life  of  the 
church  of  my  choice,  the  Christian  Church  or  Church  of  Christ ;  and  was 
as  far  as  I  know  .  .  .  always  truthful,  conscientious,  and  religious  "  (Rev. 
Thos.  Goodwin  of  Charleston,  111.,  in  1887.  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  xlviii, 
p.  238). 

4  Rev.  David  Elkins,  who,  at  the  boy  Abraham's  entreaty,  rode  one  hun- 
dred miles  to  officiate  in  the  sad  rite. 


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THOMAS   LINCOLN  — THE    MAN    131 

the  region.  His  daughter,  who  had  followed  him  in  his  pro- 
fession of  faith,  had  been  married  at  about  the  same  time '  and 
died  in  childbed  less  than  two  years  after,2  adding  another 
weight  to  the  load  of  affliction  of  this  already  heavily  burdened 
man. 

John  Hanks,  the  son  of  Joseph  Hanks,  of  whom  Thomas 
Lincoln  had  learned  his  trade,  had  now  also  joined  the  little 
household  at  Pigeon  Creek;  but  in  1829  he  pushed  on  to 
the  westward  with  the  pioneer  instinct  that  seemed  inherent 
in  the  race,  and  settled  in  Macon  County,  Illinois,  whither 
his  letters,  filled  with  glowing  descriptions  of  the  incredible 
fertility  of  the  new  land,  drew  his  kinsfolk  after  him  the  fol- 
lowing year. 

The  reasons  of  this  last  migration  are  not  far  to  seek;  a 
barren  and  infertile  land,  poisoned  by  miasma,  tormented  by 
insect  pests,  and  where  sickness  and  death  had  followed  him 
like  a  Nemesis  during  most  of  the  fourteen  years  of  his  resi- 
dence in  Indiana,  made  this  removal  probably  the  wisest  step 
ever  taken  by  Thomas  Lincoln  during  his  chequered  career, 
and  the  increased  prosperity  that  thenceforth  attended  the 
family  fully  justified  his  course. 

Much  has  been  said  of  Thomas  Lincoln's  frequent  mi- 
grations, but  these,  with  the  exception  of  his  unexplained 
relinquishment  of  his  fine  farm  on  Knob  Creek  for  the  pesti- 
lent woods  of  Indiana,  rather  redound  to  his  credit  than  to 
his  prejudice;  and  even  this  last,  if  actuated  by  his  revolt 
against  the  incubus  of  human  slavery,  should  not  be  laid 
against  him.  Fourteen  years'  residence  in  Indiana  and  twenty- 
one  in  Illinois,  the  latter  punctuated  by  one  minor  change,3 

1  To  Aaron  Grigsby,  in  August,  1826. 

a  On  20  May,  1828. 

3  "After  a  year  or  two  in  Macon  County,  he  passed  the  remaining  twenty 
years  of  his  life  in  Coles  County  "  (J.  H.  Barrett,  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg., 
vol.  xlviii,  p.  328). 


132    THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

hardly  demonstrate  a  "  restless  squatter." ■  If  he  had,  like  most 
of  his  neighbours,  somewhat  of  the  rover  in  his  composition, 
he  came  rightly  by  it,  for  a  notable  point  of  character  in  the 
Lincoln  family,  after  they  broke  away  from  the  locality  in 
England  where  they  had  lived  for  centuries,  has  been  the 
strenuous  energy  which  made  six  out  of  the  seven  genera- 
tions in  America  (to  and  including  the  President),  pioneers 
in  new  and  wilder  lands.2  Thomas  Lincoln,  so  often  pointed 
out  scornfully  as  a  "rolling  stone,"  was  but  following  the  in- 
stinct in  his  veins,  and  if  less  fortunate,  was  not  more  itin- 
erant than  his  great-grandfather,  Mordecai  Lincoln,  whose 
prosperous  career  belied  the  ancient  proverb. 

In  March,  1830,  began  the  last  "great  trek"  that  was 
destined  to  mark  the  dawn  of  returning  prosperity  for  the 
family  and  to  make  Abraham  Lincoln  a  citizen  of  the  Prairie 
State.  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  wife,  Abraham,  then  just  ar- 
rived at  his  majority,  John  D.  Johnston,  the  wife's  son,  and 
her  two  daughters,  Sarah  and  Matilda,  and  their  husbands, 
Dennis  Hanks  and  Squire  Hall,  formed  the  party  who  toiled 
for  two  weeks  through  forest  and  prairie  to  Macon  County, 
where  they  were  welcomed  at  the  Hanks  farm  near  Decatur, 
and  at  once  set  to  work,  with  John  Hanks's  assistance,  to 
erect  their  new  house  for  which  the  timber  had  already  been 

1  Morse,  vol.  i,  p.  9;   Herndon,  vol.  i,  p.  8. 

2  1.  Samuel  Lincoln  came  from  England  to  Massachusetts  Bay,  1637. 
2.  Mordecai  Lincoln,  his  son,  lived  and  died  in  Massachusetts,  being  the  only 
exception  to  the  rule  in  the  direct  line.  3.  Mordecai  Lincoln,  his  son,  went  to 
New  Jersey  about  1 7 10  and  to  Pennsylvania  about  1 72 1.  4.  John  Lincoln,  his 
son,  went  to  Virginia,  1768.  5.  Abraham  Lincoln,  his  son,  went  to  Kentucky, 
1782.  6.  Thomas  Lincoln,  his  son,  went  to  Indiana,  18 16,  and  to  Illinois, 
1830.  7.  Abraham  Lincoln,  his  son,  went  to  Illinois  with  his  father,  1830, 
being  then  aged  above  twenty-one  years. 

This  has  also  been  remarked  by  Shackford  (A^.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  xli, 
p.  156),  but  he  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  being  of  age  in 
1830,  was  also  entitled  to  be  enrolled  as  one  of  the  pioneers. 


THOMAS   LINCOLN  — THE  MAN    133 

cut,  and  Abraham,  together  with  John  Hanks,  cleared, 
ploughed,  and  planted  a  field  of  fifteen  acres  for  the  first 
crop,  fencing  it  with  the  black  walnut  rails  which  were  to 
figure  so  prominently  in  the  election  campaign  thirty-one 
years  later,  and  ended  his  home  life  with  his  last  filial  ser- 
vice. His  after  fortunes  have  become  a  part  of  his  country's 
history. 

The  winter  which  followed  was  that  of  "the  deep  snow,"  a 
terrible  landmark  in  the  memories  of  the  old  people  which  still 
lingered  but  a  few  years  since.1  The  sufferings  of  our  pioneers 
must  have  been  intense,  but  the  tide  of  fortune  had  turned; 
henceforward  they  were  never  to  know  again  the  grinding 
poverty  and  misfortune  endured  in  Indiana,  and  Thomas  Lin- 
coln's declining  years  were  passed  quietly  and  peacefully  to 
their  ending  at  a  little  beyond  the  limitation  of  the  Psalmist, 
proud  in  the  already  great  achievements  and  content  in  the 
affection  and  esteem  of  his  only  son.2 

With  characteristic  modesty  Abraham  Lincoln  has  summed 
up  the  family  history  as  "the  short  and  simple  annals  of  the 
poor";  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  were  much  more  than  that, 
and  a  survey  of  this  sturdy  struggle  against  every  disadvantage 
can  leave  no  unfavourable  impression  on  the  broad  and  un- 
biassed mind.  It  is  an  object-lesson  of  only  less  import  than 
the  life  of  his  more  favoured  son.  Had  Thomas  Lincoln 
faltered  by  the  wayside,  had  he  been  a  drunkard,  a  profligate, 
a  sluggard,  or  a  rogue,3  the  brilliant  life  of  Abraham  Lin- 

1  Powers's  Early  Settlers  of  Sangamon  County. 

2  u  He  was  a  man  whom  everybody  loved  and  held  the  warm  affection  of 
his  eminent  son  throughout  his  life  "  (Holland,  p.  24). 

3  "  All  stories  to  the  disparagement  of  Thomas  Lincoln  are  exaggerated. 
He  was  no  financier,  but  he  was  a  brave,  sensible,  high-minded  man  "  (Letter 
of  Major  H.  C.  Whitney  to  Mrs.  C.  H.  Hitchcock,  17  January,  1895).  "In 
spite  of  his  wandering  life,  contracted  no  bad  habits.  He  was  temperate  and 
honest"  {Nancy  Hanks,  p.  56). 


i34   THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

coin  would  never  have  been  lived  —  a  fact  entitled  to  the 
grateful  consideration  of  his  countrymen. 

Thomas  Lincoln  was  not  a  great  man  in  any  sense  of  the 
word,  —  it  is  given  to  but  few  of  us  to  be,  —  but  he  was  a 
good  man,  which  is  within  the  reach  of,  if  not  attained  by  all. 
The  inflexible  honesty,  truth,  humour  and  good  nature  which 
were  his  son's  direct  heritage  from  him,  as  well  as  the  intel- 
lectual force,  latent  but  not  extinguished,  transmitted  from 
his  early  New  England  ancestors,  constituted  a  foundation  on 
which  was  to  be  builded  the  best,  wisest,  and  greatest  of  all 
Americans,  past,  present,  and  perhaps  to  come. 


CHAPTER  XI 
INHERITED   TRAITS 

FEW  names  have  been  more  prominent  than  that  of 
Lincoln  in  the  history  of  the  Colony  and  the  early 
days  of  the  Republic,  and  it  is  a  significant  fact  that 
the  greater  part  of  those  so  distinguished  are  found  among 
the  descendants  of  Samuel. 

No  less  than  eight  persons  of  the  name  of  Lincoln  settled 
in  Hingham,  Mass.,  prior  to  1650,  —  from  whom  probably 
all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  family  in  America  derive  their  de- 
scent.1 There  were,  besides  Samuel,  the  ancestor  of  the 
President,  a  Stephen,  two  Daniels,  and  four  Thomases ;  the 
latter  segregated  as  weaver,  cooper,  miller,  and  husbandman. 
Thomas  the  weaver,  one  of  the  Daniels,  and  Samuel  were 
brothers,  as  were  Stephen  and  Thomas  the  husbandman ; 
the  relative  connection  of  these  with  one  another  and  the 
three  others  is  unknown,  but  they  were  presumably  not  dis- 
tantly related.  With  the  exception  of  the  two  brothers  of 
Samuel,  all  of  them  left  numerous  descendants. 

From  Thomas  the  cooper  was  derived  Hon.  Benjamin 
Lincoln  (1699— 177 1),  member  of  the  Executive  Council, 
and  his  more  widely  known  son,  Major-General  Benjamin 
of  the  Revolution. 

Stephen's  descendants  appear  to  have  won  their  laurels  in 
more  peaceful  paths:  Isaac  (Harvard,  1722),  long  a  teacher 
at  Hingham;   Abner  (Harvard,   1788),  professor  at  Derby 

1  The  only  other  early  Lincolns  in  New  England  were  Robert  of  Boston, 
1646,  who  died  in  1663  (iV.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  xii,  p.  154),  and  William 
of  Roxbury,  fatally  wounded  in  the  Narragansett  fight,  1675,  who  had  no 
children. 


136   THE   ANCESTRY   OF   LINCOLN 

Academy;  Rev.  Perez  (Harvard,  1798),  minister  at  Glouces- 
ter, Mass.,  and  Rev.  Calvin  (Harvard,  1820),  long  the  revered 
pastor  of  the  First  Church  of  Hingham  being  numbered 
among  them. 

But  it  is  when  we  reach  the  issue  of  Samuel  that  we  are 
impressed  with  the  extraordinary  number  of  prominent  men 
that  adorn  the  roll  of  his  posterity ;  not  only  in  the  cloistered 
life  of  the  student,  as  with  Stephen's  issue,  or  on  the  battle- 
field, as  with  those  of  Thomas,  but  as  authors,  historians, 
lawyers,  physicians,  judges,  fiduciary  heads  of  great  business 
organisations,  and  high  in  the  councils  of  state,  we  everywhere 
find  evidence  of  the  commanding  ability  and  intellectual  force 
that  seem  to  have  been  slowly  developing  along  varied  lines 
to  finally  culminate,  stimulated  perhaps  by  the  rugged  life  of 
the  Western  pioneer,  in  the  mental  and  physical  development 
of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  names  of  a  few  of  these  may  be  recalled  to  mind  to 
illustrate  the  cogency  of  the  argument:  Hon.  Solomon  Lin- 
coln, the  historian  of  Hingham,  who  had  also  been  twice 
Representative  and  United  States  Marshal;  William  (1801— 
43),  the  historian  of  Worcester,  Mass.;  Rev.  Henry  (Har- 
vard, 1786),  pastor  of  First  Parish  of  Falmouth,  Mass.;  Dr. 
Isaac  (Harvard,  1800),  of  Brunswick,  Maine,  for  sixty  years 
overseer  of  Bowdoin  College;  Dr.  David  Francis  of  Boston,  a 
distinguished  physician  ;  Amos,  of  the  "  Boston  Tea  Party" 
and  Captain  of  Artillery  in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  him- 
self the  son  of  Enoch  of  Hingham,  Representative  to  the 
General  Court  (1776),  and  who  was  also  father  of  Hon.  Levi 
Lincoln  of  Worcester  (1749-18  20),  Member  of  Congress, 
Senator,  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  Secretary  of 
State  under  Jefferson,  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  (1807—09),  appointed  to  a  seat  on  the  bench 
of  the  Supreme  Court   of  United   States,  but   declined  the 


INHERITED   TRAITS  137 

honour;  his  son,  also  Hon.  Levi  (1782-1868),  State  Senator 
and  Representative  (1812-22),  Speaker  (1820-22),  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor and  Governor  of  Massachusetts  (1825-34), 
Associate  Justice  of  Supreme  Court  and  Member  of  Con- 
gress;  Enoch  (1788-1829),  the  brother  of  the  last  named, 
of  Fryeburg,  Maine,  Governor  of  Maine  ( 1826-29) ;  Abra- 
ham of  Worcester,  Mass.  (1 762-1 824),  delegate  to  State 
Constitutional  Convention  and  member  of  Executive  Coun- 
cil (a  younger  brother  of  the  first  Governor  Levi);  Daniel 
Waldo  (1813-80),  son  of  the  second  Governor  Levi,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad  (1867-76)  and 
President  from  1876  until  his  death;  George,  his  brother, 
Captain  United  States  Army,  and  killed  at  Buena  Vista, 
Mexico,  in  1 847,  while  gallantly  leading  his  men  to  the 
charge;  another  brother,  General  William  Sever,  Colonel 
Thirty-fourth  Massachusetts  and  Brigadier-General  in  Civil 
War,  and  many  others ;  but  these  may  suffice  to  demonstrate 
the  remarkable  and  versatile  talents  of  the  family. 

Taking  up  the  more  immediate  line  of  the  President,  we 
find  his  uncle  Mordecai,  the  elder  brother  of  Thomas,  Sheriff 
of  his  county  and  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky.1 
Jacob  Lincoln,  of  the  next  earlier  generation,  the  brother  of 
Abraham,  the  Kentucky  pioneer,  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
Continental  Army,  while  Abraham  himself,  at  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  in  1776,  had  been  a  captain  of  the  Virginia 
Militia.2  Ascending  yet  another  degree  to  "Virginia  John," 
the  emigrant  from  Pennsylvania,  we  find  his  three  half- 
brothers  all  occupying  leading  places  in  their  respective  com- 
munities :  Mordecai,  next  eldest  to  John,  served  as  quarter- 
master in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  the  next,  Thomas,  was 

*  Letter  of  W.  F.  Booker,  clerk  of  Washington  County,  26  March,  1895. 
Barrett's  Lincoln,  p.  6. 

2  See  Husting  Court  Records  at  Staunton,  Va.,  where  his  name  appears  on 
a  court-martial  in  that  year  as  Abraham  Linkhorn. 


138   THE  ANCESTRY  OF   LINCOLN 

Representative  for  Berks  County  in  the  Pennsylvania  General 
Assembly,  1758;  and  the  youngest,  Abraham,  was  Representa- 
tive (1782-85),  delegate  to  State  Convention  (1787),  and 
State  Constitutional  Convention  (1790). 

Through  all  the  names  that  have  been  mentioned,  as  well  as 
the  many  that  have  not,  has  run  the  warp  of  inflexible  honesty 
characteristic  of  the  race,  which  reached  its  apotheosis  in  the 
affectionate  and  well-merited  title  of  "  Honest  Abe." 

Turning  now  to  the  distaff  lines  of  ascent,  we  find  ourselves 
much  hampered  by  our  still  scanty  knowledge  of  the  pedi- 
grees of  the  more  recent  intermarriages;  but  the  patient  re- 
searches of  Mrs.  Hitchcock l  have  shown  us  that  the  Hanks 
family,  from  whom  Abraham  Lincoln  derived  his  stature  and 
personal  appearance,2  was  one  of  unusual  ability. 

In  the  next  generation  we  find  the  father  and  three  uncles 
of  Bathsheba  Herring  serving  in  the  Continental  Army 
throughout  the  Revolution,  and  in  the  suspected  connection 
with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Thomas  Herring  ( 1 69 1  — 
1757),  we  realise  what  important  results  probably  await  an 
exhaustive  examination  of  the  English  pedigree  of  this  family. 

The  poverty  of  the  Pennsylvania  and,  still  more,  of  the  Vir- 
ginia records  has  deprived  us  of  knowledge  of  even  the  name 
of  the  ancestress  in  the  next  generation,  but  when  we  reach 
the  Salters  we  find  ourselves  again  upon  sure  ground.  Richard 
Salter,  the  grandfather  of  "Virginia  John"  Lincoln,  was  a 
man  who  would  have  been  notable  in  any  community, — 
member  of  the  House  of  Deputies  of  New  Jersey  (1695), 
of  the  Assembly  (1704),  Justice,  Judge,  and  Captain,  while 
Richard,  his  son,  was  a  member  of  the  Council  and  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Jersey. 

1  Nancy  Hanks,  the  Story  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  Mother,  by  C.  H.  Hitchcock, 
New  York,  1900.  A  Complete  Genealogy  of  the  Hanks  Family,  by  the  same 
hand,  is  also  in  preparation. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  86. 


INHERITED   TRAITS  139 

Through  Richard  Salter's  wife,  Sarah  Bowne,  we  draw  upon 
another  distinguished  line,  —  her  father,  John  Bowne,  having 
been  Representative  in  Hampstead  (New  York)  Convention 
(1665),  member  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  of  New  Jersey 
(1680),  Speaker  of  the  same  (1682),  and  Justice  of  Mon- 
mouth County  (1683).  His  son,  John  Bowne,  Jr.,  was  also 
a  member  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  and  was,  with  Richard 
Salter,  Jr.,  among  the  most  strenuous  opponents  of  the  Corn- 
bury  faction.  Obadiah  Bowne,  another  son,  was  likewise  of 
the  Provincial  Assembly  and  his  son-in-law,  Gershom  Mott, 
was  Sheriff  (1697-98),  member  Provincial  Assembly  (1707- 
13),  and  expelled,  as  well  as  his  brother-in-law,  for  opposition 
to  the  corrupt  Cornbury. 

Through  John  Bowne's  wife,  Lydia  Holmes,  we  tap  an- 
other strong  stream  of  sturdy  ancestry.  Her  father,  Rev. 
Obadiah  Holmes,  had  led  one  of  the  revolts  against  the 
bigotry  of  his  surroundings  and  had  conducted  a  little  band 
of  advanced  thinkers  from  Massachusetts  to  Rhode  Island. 
Later,  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies  in  Boston  in  1 65 1, 
he  suffered  shameful  punishment  at  their  hands,  which  he 
endured  with  the  fortitude  of  the  earlier  Christian  martyrs. 
Three  of  his  sons  were  distinguished  men:  Obadiah,  Jr., 
Judge  of  Salem  County,  New  Jersey  (1677-89);  Jonathan, 
Deputy  in  New  Jersey  (1668),  Justice  there  (1672),  Deputy 
at  Newport  ( 1 690-1 707),  and  Speaker  (1696  and  1703); 
while  John,  a  third  son,  was  Deputy  in  Rhode  Island  (1682- 
1705),  and  Treasurer  (1690,  1703,  and  1708-09). 

Many  more  instances  might  be  cited,  but  already  sufficient 
evidence  has  been  adduced  to  enable  us  to  file  a  strong  brief 
for  the  now  generally  admitted  theory  of  hereditary  genius. 
There  is  not  a  trait  in  the  broad  and  lovable  character  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  that  we  may  not  find  foreshadowed  in  one 
or  many  of  his  ancestors. 


/ 


Samuel  Lincoln,  from  deed,  i  December,  1649. 


T  Samuel  Lincoln,  from  deed,  19  July,  1680. 


*yle  T* 


M^€Vf^*%C 


<"l 


Mordecai  Lincoln,  Sr., 
from  will  dated  3  May, 

1727. 


yiofoxciX  &&* 


Mordecai  Lincoln,  Jr., 
from  will  dated  11  Feb- 
ruary, 1735-6. 


Vv 


SEAL 


John  Lincoln, 
from  deed  dated 
7  August,  1773. 


.sm 


Abraham  Lincoln,  from  deed  dated 
18  February,  1780. 


s<f4tfrncyrh^°j0£&    Thomas  Lincoln,  from  marriage  bond 


y^TUrt^n^yyhj  <&2*<c<r&s 


President.  From  a  letter  dated  De- 
cember, 1863. 


APPENDIX 

ORIGINAL  AND  INEDITED  DOCUMENTS, 

WILLS,  DEEDS,  ETC.,  ETC., 

IN  ENGLAND  AND 

AMERICA 


Arms  of  Bird  of  Witchingham 


Urgent,  a  cross  patonce  bet-ween  four  martlets  gules,  a  canton  azure. 
Crest :    Out  of  a  coronet  a  deml-grey hound  salient  proper. 


FEET  OF  FINES 

\Rutland,  Essex,  18  Edw.  I,  No.  202.] 

Final  Agreement  made  in  the  King's  Court  at  Westminster  on  the 
morrow  of  the  Purification  of  the  Blessed  Mary,  18  Edward  I. 
[3d  February,  1289—90],  Between  Adam  son  of  William  de 
Lincoln  of  Great  Jernemuthe  [Great  Yarmouth]  and  Johan  his 
wife,  demandants,  and  Walter  de  Wyndesore,  deforciant,  of 
the  Manor  of  Codesmor  with  appurtenances  in  co.  Rutland  and 
of  2  messuages  27  acres  of  land  and  the  half  of  18  acres  meadow 
and  the  half  of  19  acres  pasture  and  30s.  rent  with  appurtenances 
in  Westham  and  Estham  in  co.  Essex.  The  said  Adam  and 
Johan  acknowledge  the  said  Manor,  etc.  to  be  the  right  of 
said  Walter,  and  for  this  acknowledgment  fine  and  agreement 
said  Walter  grants  to  said  Adam  and  Johan  the  said  Manor,  etc. 
to  have  and  to  hold  to  said  Adam  and  Johan  and  to  the  heirs 
of  the  said  Adam  begotten  of  the  body  of  said  Johan,  the  rent 
thereof  per  annum  to  the  said  Walter  for  all  services  40  li.  And 
after  the  decease  of  said  Walter  the  said  Adam  and  Johan  and 
their  heirs  shall  be  quit  of  the  said  rent  and  there  shall  be  paid 
each  year  to  the  heirs  of  said  Walter  one  rose  for  all  services. 
And  if  it  happen  that  said  Adam  and  Johan  die  without  heirs 
of  the  body  of  said  Johan  begotten  then  after  the  decease  of  the 
longer  liver  of  them  the  said  Adam  and  Johan  the  said  Manor, 
etc.  shall  revert  to  the  said  Walter  and  his  heirs. 

[Norfolk,  H.  1 2  James  /.] 

Final  Agreement  made  in  the  King's  Court  at  Westminster  in  the 
octaves  of  Hilary,  12  James  I,  between  Richard  Lincoln,  de- 
mandant, and  Thomas  Lincoln  and  Alice  his  wife,  deforciants, 
touching  one  messuage  and  12  acres  of  pasture  in  Swanton 
Morley.  Said  Thomas  and  Alice  acknowledge  said  tenements 
to  be  the  right  of  said  Richard,  who  gives  therefor  ^41. 


i44  APPENDIX 

{Norfolk,  M.  8  Charles  /.] 

Final  Agreement  made  in  the  King's  Court  at  Westminster  on  the 
morrow  of  All  Souls,  8  Charles  I,  between  Francis  Neave,  Esq., 
demandant,  and  Henry  Lincolne,  gent.,  and  Ann  Lincoln, 
widow,  deforciants,  touching  one  messuage,  i  garden,  i  orchard, 
20  acres  of  land,  30  acres  of  meadow,  and  10  acres  of  pasture 
in  Witchingham  Magna.  Said  Henry  and  Ann  acknowledge 
said  tenements  to  be  the  right  of  said  Francis,  who  gives  there- 
for ^41. 

{Norfolk,  M.  35-36  Elizabeth.'] 

Final  Agreement  made  in  the  Queen's  Court  at  St.  Albans  on  the 
morrow  of  All  Souls,  35  Elizabeth,  between  Thomas  May, 
demandant,  and  Edward  Rymshinge,  gent.,  and  Elizabeth  his 
wife,  deforciants,  touching  the  moiety  of  one  messuage,  200  acres 
of  land,  20  acres  of  meadow,  24  acres  of  pasture,  100  acres  of 
gorse  and  heath,  20s  rent  and  liberty  of  faldage  for  600  sheep 
in  Gyrston,  Watton,  Marten  Carbrooke  and  Thomson.  Said 
Edward  and  Elizabeth  acknowledge  said  tenements  to  be  the 
right  of  said  Thomas,  who  gives  therefor  £220. 


II 

CHANCERY   PROCEEDINGS 

LINCOLN  v.  LINCOLN 

[Series  II,  317  :   45.   1 621.] 

Bill  of  Complaint  of  Anne  Lincoln  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln, 
daughters  of  Richard  Lincoln,  late  deceased,  being  infants  within  the 
age  of  one  and  twenty  years,  by  John  Bird,  gent.,  their  "  gardian," 
sworn  11  May,  1621:  — 

Richard  Lincoln  was  in  his  life  time  seised  in  his  demesne  as  of 
fee  of  and  in  divers  messuages,  lands,  and  tenements  in  Hingham, 
of  the  yerely  value  of  ^30,  and  having  issue  Edward  Lyncolne,  his 
eldest  son,  did  about  twenty  yeres  now  last  past  for  the  preferment 
and  advancement  of  the  sayd  Edward,  settle  and  convey  his  lands  to 
the  use  of  himselfe  duringe  his  naturall  life  and  from  and  after  his 
decease  to  the  use  of  the  said  Edward  Lyncolne  and  his  heirs  for 
ever.  Further  he  did  prefer  and  helpe  the  sayde  Edward  with  many 
other  guifts  and  benefitts  of  very  great  value  and  worthe,  and  since 
that  tyme  did  also  convey  divers  other  lands,  of  the  yerely  value  of 
fower  pounds,  to  the  use  of  the  said  Edward  for  his  life  and  after  his 
decease  to  the  use  of  some  of  the  children  of  the  sayd  Edward  and 
their  heirs.  Having  thus  preferred  Edward  and  his  children  with  all 
or  the  greater  part  of  his  estate,  and  being  then  seised  in  fee  of  fower 
acres  of  land  in  Swanton  Morley,  holden  of  the  Manor  of  Swanton 
Morley  cum  Worthey,  which  he  lately  purchased  of  Robert  Skarffe, 
and  of  twoe  acres  of  land  in  Great  Witchingham,  holden  of  the 
Manor  of  Witchingham  Magna  and  Longvyles,  which  he  had  lately 
purchased  of  Margery  Dunham,  the  same  being  all  or  the  cheifest 
part  of  his  (remaining)  estate,  about  twoe  yeres  nowe  last  past  he  did 
make  his  last  will  in  wrightinge  and  did  devise  the  sayd  fower  acres  and 
two  acres  unto  the  sayd  Anne  and  Elizabeth  and  their  heirs.  About 
the  same  time  he,  thesayd  Richard  Lyncolne, did  surrender  all  his  copy- 
hold premisses  to  the  use  of  his  sd  last  will.  Shortly  after  which,  about 


146  APPENDIX 

the  month  of  January  now  last  past,  he  suddenly  fell  sick  nigh  his  then 
dwellinge  howse,  and  before  he  could  return  home  suddenly  dyed. 

Your  Orators  having  some  notice  of  the  sayd  last  will,1  presently 
after  his  death  entered  into  the  sayd  fower  acres  and  two  acres  and 
became  thereof  seised.  But  soe  it  is,  maye  it  please  your  most  ex- 
cellent Majestie,  that  Edward  Lyncolne,  not  satisfy ed  with  soe  liberall 
and  great  preferment  made  unto  him  as  aforesayd,  hath  suppressed 
and  detayned  the  sayd  will  and  refuseth  to  prove  the  same,  and  hath 
likewise  concealed  denyed  ymbeasilled  or  otherwise  suppressed  the 
aforesayd  surrender  and  divarsecopyes  and  other  wrightingesconcerne- 
ing  the  sayd  fower  acres  and  two  acres,  and  doth  nowe  give  out  that 
ther  was  noe  surrender  made  by  the  sayd  Richard  to  the  use  of  his 
last  will,  for  that  he  was  surprised  by  sudden  death  before  that  he 
could  make  the  same. 

Your  Orators  further  believe  that  there  exists  some  combinacon 
betwixt  the  sayd  Edward  and  the  Steward  of  the  Manor,  whereby 
Edward  Lyncolne  hath  unconscionably  procured  himselfe  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  sayd  six  acres  as  heir  by  descent,  since  he  doth  threatten 
ymediately  to  enter  into  the  premisses  and  cleerely  to  ouste  and 
dispossesse  your  subjects  thereof.  Your  Orators  therefore  pray  that 
your  Majesties  gratious  writt  of  Subpoena  be  yssued  against  the  sayd 
Edward  Lyncolne,  commanding  him  att  a  certeyne  day  and  under  a 
certeyne  payne  personally  to  appeare  before  your  Majesties  Cort  of 
Chancery,  then  and  there  to  answer  the  premises. 

LINCOLN  v.  LINCOLN 

[Series  II,  317  :  45.   1621.] 

Writ  addressed  to  Robert  Peck,2  clerk,  Robert  Constable,  Richard 
Humfrey  and  Richard  Oakes,  gents.,  for  the  appearance  of  Edward 
Lincoln,  the  defendant,  in  the  Octaves  of  Trinity  Term.  Dated 
Westminster,  14  May,  19  James  I. 

1  Note  that  the  will  of  Richard  Lincoln,  the  father,  was  proved  in  the  Consistory  of  Nor- 
wich (1620,  fo.  36)  on  the  24  February  next  before  the  date  of  complaint,  by  the  mother  of 
complainants.  They  or  their  guardian  and  attorney,  Bird,  their  uncle  on  the  mother's  side, 
could  hardly  have  been  ignorant  of  this  fact. 

2  The  appearance  of  Robert  Peck's  name  on  this  writ  is  very  interesting.  He  is  the 
famous  parson  of  Hingham  who,  in  1638,  settled  with  his  congregation  at  Hingham,  Mass. 
The  writ  was  addressed  to  him  in  his  capacity  as  magistrate. 


APPENDIX  147 

LINCOLN  v.  LINCOLN 

[Series  II,  317  :  45.    1621.] 

Answer  of  Edward  Lyncolne,  defendant,  to  the  Bill  of  Com- 
plaint of  Anne  Lyncolne  and  Elizabeth  Lyncolne,  sworn  1  June,  19 
James  I. :  — 

Defendant,  after  taking  exception  to  the  incertainty  and  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  complaint,  says  his  late  father,  Richard  Lincolne,  was 
in  truth  in  his  life  tyme  seised  of  &  in  one  messuage  and  35  acres 
of  arrable  meadowe  &  pasture  grounde,  being  freeholde,  situate  in 
Hingham,  and  worth  not  more  than  ^20  per  annum,  to  be  letten. 
This  messuage  and  land  were  the  inheritance  of  Robert  Lyncolne, 
father  of  said  Richard,  and  by  the  death  of  the  said  Robert  the  same 
did  descend  and  come  unto  the  sayd  Richard  Lyncolne  as  sonne  and 
heyre  of  the  sayd  Robert.  Richard  Lyncolne,  having  thus  come  into 
his  own,  about  the  16th  year  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  marriage  with  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Edward1  Rymchinge,  did 
convey  and  assure  the  sayd  premises  unto  the  sayd  Edward  Rym- 
chinge and  one  Robert  Cooper  and  their  heyres,  to  the  use  of  the 
sayd  Richard  Lyncolne  and  Elizabeth  for  the  term  of  their  lives 
and  the  life  of  the  longer  liver  of  them,  and  after  their  decease  to  the 
heyres  of  the  sayd  Richard  uppon  the  bodie  of  the  sayd  Elizabeth 
lawfully  begotten.  By  force  whereof  the  sayd  Richard  and  Elizabeth 
his  wife  were  seised  of  the  premises,  Richard  in  tayle  speciall  and 
Elizabeth  for  terme  of  her  life,  and  being  so  seized  they  had  issue  be- 
tween them  the  defendant  Edward  Lyncolne,  their  eldest  son.  Eliza- 
beth died,  and  Richard  did  marry  and  take  to  his  second  wife  the 
daughter  of  one  Hobbes,  by  whom  he  also  had  issue  a  son  named 
Richard,  yet  living.  After  the  death  of  the  said  second  wife  he  did 
marry  and  take  to  his  thirde  wife  one  Dunham,  widdowe,  after  whose 
death  the  said  Richard  did  marry  and  take  to  his  fourth  wife  one 
Anne  Smale,  widdowe,  by  whom  he  had  yssue  nowe  liveinge  one 
sonne  named  Henry  and  the  complainants  Anne  and  Elizabeth 
Lyncolne.  Above  fiftene  yeres  past,  for  the  advancement  of  his  son 
Richard  in  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  one  Foulsham,  Richard 
Lyncolne  did  assure  the  said  messuage  and  23  acres,  parcel  of  the 

1  An  obvious  error  for  "Richard."    See  footnote,  pp.  16-153. 


148  APPENDIX 

premises  aforesayd,  to  the  said  Richard  his  son  after  the  death  of  his 
said  father,  and  to  drawe  the  defendant  to  ioine  with  him  in  the 
said  conveyance  he,  the  father,  did  convey  the  two  acres,  residue  of 
the  sayd  premises,  being  builded  uppon  with  a  little  cottage  of  the 
yerely  value  of  40s.,  unto  defendant  and  his  heirs,  and  did  give 
unto  defendant  jCio  in  money  only  and  no  more.  As  touching  the 
fower  acres  and  twoe  acres  of  copyhold,  Richard  Lyncolne  did  dye 
thereof  seised  as  alleged,  and  thereupon  the  said  six  acres,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  Manors  whereof  the  same  bene  holden, 
did  descend  unto  defendant  as  son  and  heir.  Richard  Lyncolne  his 
father  was  likewise  seised  of  divers  other  messuages,  howses  and 
lands  in  Hingham,  Morley  Swanton,  and  Great  Witchingham,  of 
the  value  of  ^40  per  annum,  and  did  convey  the  same  unto  Henry 
Lyncolne  his  son  by  his  fourth  wife,  whereby  it  maye  appeare  that 
the  sonnes  by  the  second  and  fourthe  wife  were  preferred  with 
liberall  &  lardge  porcons  of  land,  and  defendant,  eldest  sonne  and 
heyre,  had  only  but  twoe  acres  with  a  cottage  —  whereby  it  maye 
further  appeare  howe  the  sayd  Richard  Lyncolne  was  wroughte  to 
disinherite  defendant  by  the  means  and  procurement  of  his  latter 
wives.  As  touching  the  supposed  will  of  the  said  Richard  Lyncolne, 
defendant  doth  not  knowe  of  any  will,  neither  hath  he  any  will  of  the 
sayd  Richard,  but  he  hath  harde  by  reporte  that  Richard  Lyncolne, 
by  the  meanes  of  his  latter  wife  yet  liveinge,  was  much  laboured  to 
make  a  will  for  the  advancement  of  hir  and  hir  children.  The  sayd 
Richard  Lyncolne  was  possessed  of  goods  to  the  value  of  £600, 
and  he  is  supposed  to  have  willed  to  the  sayd  Anne  and  Elizabeth 
the  some  of  fowerscore  pounds  a  pece,  and  to  have  appointed  unto 
them  the  aforesayd  six  acres  of  copyhold  land.  Nevertheless  the 
sayd  Richard  did  dye  suddenly  before  any  surrender  of  the  sayd 
land  was  made  to  the  use  of  his  alledged  will,  and  the  sayd  land  did 
accordingly  descend  and  come  to  defendant. 

LINCOLN  v.  GURNEY 

[Charles  I,  L.  1  :  37.    1641.] 

Plaintiff  is   Henry  Lincoln  of  Swanton   Morley,  co.  Norfolk, 
yeoman.    His  Bill  of  Complaint  is  dated  13  July,  1641. 


APPENDIX  149 

Richard  Lincoln  and  Ann  his  wife,  father  and  mother  of  the  plain- 
tiff, about  4  James  I.,  surrendered  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Manor  of  Swanton  Morley  a  certain  messuage  called  Mosses,  and  1 1 
acres  3  roods  of  land  lying  in  Swanton  Morley,  to  the  use  of  them- 
selves and  the  longer  liver  of  them,  and  after  their  decease  to  John 
Small,  son  of  the  said  Ann,  and  his  heirs,  on  condition  that  the  said 
John  should  pay  unto  Ann  Lincoln,  daughter  of  said  Richard  and 
Ann,  £10 1  and  to  Elizabeth,  another  daughter  of  said  Richard  and 
Ann,  other  £10,  payable  respectively  1  and  4  years  after  the  decease 
of  the  said  Richard  and  Ann.  If  John  Small  failed  to  make  these 
payments,  Ann  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln  were  to  enter  upon  the  said 
premises.  About  the  year  1634,  before  the  death  of  Ann  his  mother, 
plaintiff  lent  John  Small  X40,  taking  as  security  a  conditional  sur- 
render of  the  said  lands.  Small  failed  to  repay  the  money.  Ann  Lin- 
coln, daughter  of  said  Richard  and  Ann,  married  Robert  Gurney, 
one  of  the  defendants.  The  money  due  to  Ann  Gurney  should  have 
been  paid  on  Michaelmas  day  last.  Elizabeth  Lincoln  married  Wil- 
liam Gunthorpe,  another  of  the  defendants. 

Suit  touching  said  lands  and  the  payment  of  said  moneys. 

Answers  of  Robert  Gurney,  gent.,  and  Anne  his  wife,  and  of 
William  Gunthorpe  and  Elizabeth  his  wife. 

They  are  ignorant  of  Complaynant's  lending  to  John  Small  or  of 
Small's  surrender.  The  money  was  not  paid  by  Complaynant,  and 
Defendants  entered  as  it  is  lawfull  for  them  to  doe.  They  have  none 
of  them  been  admitted  and  have  only  felled  underwood.  They  have 
used  no  indirect  means  or  combinacons.  Complaynant  is  natural 
brother  to  Defendants  Ann  and  Elizabeth  and  has  vsed  them  very 
vnnaturally  in  deteyning  money,  etc.  Ann  Lincoln,  widow  of  Rich- 
ard, died  about  the  Feast  of  the  Nativity  of  our  Lord  3  years  before 
the  date  of  the  suit. 


Ill 

WILLS  (ENGLISH) 

[Arcb.  Norfolk,  VolAX,fo.  276.] 

Will  of  Robert  Lincolne  of  Hingham.  Dated  18  April,  1540. 
To  be  buried  in  Hingham  churchyard.  To  my  daughters  Margaret, 
Rose  the  elder,  Rose  the  younger,  and  Christian,  40  shillings  each 
at  18.  To  my  wife  Johan,  kine.  To  my  son  Robert  Lincoln,  my 
harness.  To  my  nephew  Thomas  Lincoln,  a  coat.  To  my  godson 
Robert,  son  of  the  said  Thomas,  a  blanket  and  a  bullock  at  18.  To 
William,  son  of  said  Thomas,  a  bullock  at  18.  To  Robert  Bawdwen, 
son  of  Hugh  Bawdwen,  a  bullock.  To  my  nephew  Robert  Lincoln, 
singleman,  Elizabeth  Bawdwin,  wife  of  said  Hugh,  and  my  daughter 
Ann  Lincoln,  16  acres  of  corn  in  the  close  called  Brockelle,  between 
them.  To  my  daughters  Ann  and  Elizabeth,  sheets.  Executors:  my 
wife  Johan  and  John  Cowper,  junior,  tanner.  Witnesses  :  Thomas 
Pynchyn,  John  Barnewell,  tailor,  Robert  Lincoln  my  son,  John 
Jessoppe,  Robert  Lincoln  my  nephew,  Robert  Wright  and  John  Pye. 
Proved  5  September,  1543,  by  the  Executrix. 

\Arch.  Norfolk,  Vol.  XV,  fo.   137.] 

Will  of  Robert  Lincoln  of  Hengham,  co.  Norfolk.  Dated  14 
January,  1555-6.  To  be  buried  in  Hengham  churchyard.  To  my 
wife  Margaret,  my  dwelling-house,  land,  meadows,  and  pastures  till 
my  son  Richard  is  21.  If  said  Richard  die  before  21  without  heirs,  said 
property  to  revert  to  his  sisters  [not  named~\  and  their  heirs  for  ever. 
My  executors  to  have  the  use  of  my  tenement  called  Pyxtonnes, 
2  acres  1  rood  land  that  was  John  Pytcher's,  2  acres  land  late  Peter 
Cowper's,  1  rood  land  at  Stumpe  Cross  in  Hengham,  1  close  called 
Broccles,  till  my  son  Richard  is  21.  My  wife  Margaret  then  to  have 
the  aforesaid  tenement  and  land  for  life,  with  reversion  to  my  child 
that  is  to  be  born,  if  it  be  a  son,  and  his  heirs  for  ever ;  if  it  be  a 
daughter  said  tenement  and  land  to  revert,  after  my  wife's  death,  to 
my  son  Richard,  and  he  to  pay  the  said  child  £30  at  21.   Mentions 


APPENDIX  151 

Bartillimew  Abell.  To  my  daughter  Katherine  and  her  heirs  a  tene- 
ment in  Thetford  at  20.  To  my  daughter  Agnes  and  her  heirs  a 
tenement  in  Hengham  sometime  Frances  Portmanne's,  late  John 
Jessoppe's,  at  20.  To  my  son  John  ^5  at  21.  Residuary  legatee,  my 
wife  Margaret.  Executors  :  wife  Margaret  and  Robert  Alberye  of 
Hengham.  Witnesses  :  Sir  Henry  Goodram,  priest,  John  Baretloo, 
and  John  Alberye.   Proved  29  January,  1555-6,  by  the  Executrix. 

[Arch.  Norfolk,  Vol.  XXIII,  fo.  158.] 

Will  of  Roger  Wright  of  Hingham.  Dated  9  February,  1 570-1 . 
To  my  wife  Margaret  all  my  pasture  called  Albries  Closses  in  Heng- 
ham now  in  possession  of  Thomas  Dand,  with  lease  ground  lying 
within  said  pasture,  for  life,  with  reversion  to  my  son  Robert  Wright 
and  heirs  for  ever.  To  my  Executors,  occupation  of  my  tenement  in 
Hengham  (which  I  bought  of  Walter  Pyke)  and  5  acres  in  Hengham 
(bought  of  William  Beele)  till  my  daughter  Mary  Wright  is  21.  To 
Richard  Lyncolne,  my  wife's  son,  and  his  heirs  for  ever,  my  close  in 
Hengham  bought  of  Robert  Bargayne.  To  my  wife  Margaret  use 
of  residue  of  my  messuages,  lands,  and  tenements  both  free  and  copy- 
hold till  my  said  son  Robert  is  21.  If  said  son  and  daughter  die  be- 
fore 21  without  issue,  their  property  to  be  sold,  half  of  money  arising 
from  same  to  my  wife  Margaret,  each  child  of  my  sister  Elizabeth  to 
have  20/  and  Richard  Lyncolne  20/ and  my  wife's  daughter  Katherine 
Brooke  20/.  Residue  of  the  money  to  the  poor.  If  aforesaid  property 
has  to  be  sold,  William  Entwesell,  my  brother-in-law,  to  have  first 
ofFer.  To  Bartholomew  Cage,  my  servant,  I2d.,  Agnes  Bobbett,  my 
servant,  I2d.  and  Thomas  Bidwell,  I2d.  Residuary  legatee,  my  wife 
Margaret.  Executors:  wife  Margaret  and  the  said  Richard  Lyncolne. 
Witnesses  :  William  Entwesell,  Thomas  Brooke,  James  Alden,  and 
John  Cady.    Proved  2  March,  1 570-1,  by  the  Executors  named. 

[Cons.  Norwich,  Vol.  \6zo,fo.  36.] 

Will  of  Richard  Lincolne  of  Swanton  Morlie,  co.  Norfolk, 
yeoman.  Dated  3  January,  161 5-16.  To  be  buried  in  the  Church  of 
Hingham,  in  the  midle  Alley  there.  To  the  said  Church  of  Hingham 
for  my  burial,  10/.  To  the  poor  of  Hingham,  20/.  To  poor  of 
Swanton  Morlie,  10/.  To  poor  of  Great  Witchingham,  6/8.  To 
Anne  my  wife,  until  such  time  as  Henry  Lincolne,  my  son,  shall 


152  APPENDIX 

accomplish  his  age  of  21  years,  all  my  houses,  lands,  etc.,  being  free- 
hold, which  I  lately  purchased  of  Thomas  Lyncolne,  lying  in  Swanton 
Morlie.  Also  8  acres  of  free  land  in  Hingham  in  a  field  called 
Rookwood  :  the  said  Ann  to  maynetaine  and  bringe  upp  the  said 
Henrie  Lincolne  my  sonne  unto  litterature  and  good  education. 
Provided  always  that  yf  the  said  Ann  shall  marrie  and  take  another 
husband,  she  shall  then  be  discharged  of  the  custodie  of  the  said 
Henrie,  and  shall  yerely  paye  into  the  hands  of  my  loving  friend, 
John  Bird,  gent.,  my  wife's  brother,  and  of  Richard  Small  of  Swan- 
ton  Morley,  the  sum  of  20  markes  for  the  maintenance  of  the  said 
Henry.  Mention  of  William  Bailie,  my  brother-in-law.  To  Henry 
Lincolne,  my  son,  at  his  age  of  21,  all  the  aforesaid  lands,  etc.;  in 
default  unto  Ann  Lyncolne  and  Elizabeth  Lyncolne,  my  daughters, 
and  in  default  unto  Richard  Lyncolne,  my  son.  To  my  daughters 
Anne  and  Elizabeth  Lyncolne,  each  fourscore  pounds.  To  my  grand- 
child Richard  Lincolne,  5/.  To  Sarah  wife  of  Henry  Birde,  5/.  To 
my  kinsman  Leonard  Bunn,  2/.  To  godchildren  William  Small  and 
Hillarie  Bailie,  2/  apiece.  To  godchildren  Richard  Parham  and 
Bridget  Bilbie,  the  same.  To  Charles  Couldham  and  William  Bull- 
man,  6/  apiece.  To  Anne  Lincoln  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln,  four  acres 
of  copyhold  land  in  Swanton  Morley,  lately  purchased  of  Robert 
Skarff.  Also  copyhold  in  Great  Witchingham  purchased  of  Margerie 
Dunham,  widow,  sometymes  my  wyfe.  Names  Edward  and  Henry 
Bird,  my  wife's  brothers.  To  kinswoman  Marie  Bunne,  2/.  Resid- 
uary legatee  and  sole  Executrix,  my  wife  Ann.  Supervisors  :  John 
Birde,  Richard  Small,  and  William  Bailie.  Witnesses:  Marmaduke 
Ladlaye,  Henry  Birde,  and  Thomas  Heroke. 

Codicil  dated  2  February,  161 8— 19,  bequeathing  further  sums  to 
his  daughters  Ann  and  Elizabeth.  Witnesses  :  George  Couldham  and 
Thomas  Hewke.  Proved  24  February,  1620-21,  by  the  relict,  Ann 
Lincoln. 

\_Arch.  Norfolk,  Book  17,  1557-58,/^.  265.] 

Will  of  Hugh  Bawdinge  of  Hyngham.  Dated  10  October,  1556. 
To  be  buried  in  Hingham  churchyard.  To  Elsabeth  my  wife,  my 
houses  and  lands  in  Hingham  and  Woodrising  for  life.  To  my  son 
Robert  Bawden  and  heirs,  my  tenements  in  Hingham  and  all  the 
lands  in  Woodrising.  To  my  son  William  Bawden,  £6.  13.  4.   To 


APPENDIX  153 

my  son  Valenten  Bawden,  £6.  13.4.  To  my  daughter  Cicely  Baw- 
den,  j£io.  To  my  daughter  Rose  Bawden,  ^10.  To  my  daughter 
Alis  Bawden,  £10.  If  my  son  Robert  die  under  age,  said  lands  to 
remain  to  William.  If  my  son  William  die  under  age,  said  lands 
to  remain  to  Valentine.  Executrix  and  residuary  legatee :  my  wife 
Elsabeth.  Supervisor:  John  Bawden.  Witnesses:  John  Portman, 
Richard  Weston,  Richard  Hubberd,  Thomas  Fytlyng.  Proved  13 
June,  1558,  by  Executrix. 

[Cons.  Norwich,  Vol.  l  $66 -J,  fo.  248.] 

Will  of  Richard  Remchinge  of  Carbrooke,  yeoman.  Dated  12 
March,  1566-7.  To  my  son  Edward  Remchinge,  ^20  at  22.  To 
my  son  Henry  Remchinge,  £20  in  various  payments  till  he  is  21. 
To  my  son  Richard  Remchinge,  ^30  to  be  paid  to  the  person  to 
whom  he  the  said  Richard  is  apprenticed.  To  my  son  Thomas,  £30 
at  22.  To  my  daughter  Elizabeth  Remchinge,  £20  at  21  or  mar- 
riage.1 To  my  daughter  Anne  Remchinge,  £20  at  21  or  marriage. 
To  my  daughter  Mary  Remchinge,  ^20  at  21  or  marriage.  To  my 
sister  Agnes  Plaforde,  ^5.  To  my  wife  Elizabeth,  my  lands  and  ten- 
ements in  Carbrooke  or  elsewhere  which  I  had  of  the  grant  and  feoff- 
ment of  William  Hubberd  of  Carbrooke  for  the  non-payment  of  a 
certain  sum  of  money.  Residuary  legatee  and  Executrix,  my  wife 
Elizabeth.  Witnesses  :  Jherome  Spynge,  Thomas  Skott,  Thomas 
Moore,  Edward  Toogood,  and  Henry  Montynge.  Proved  9  May, 
1567,  by  the  Executrix. 

[P.  C.  C.  SCOTT,  fo.  29.] 

Dated  14  April,  1595.  I  Elizabethe  Remchinge  ofWymond- 
ham  in  the  countie  of  Norff  widowe  beyng  weake  in  bodye  but  of 
whole  and  perfect  memory  (god  be  praysed  therfore)  do  make  and 

1  This  Elizabeth  was  afterward  the  wife  of  Richard  Lincoln  and  mother  of  Edward,  although 
the  latter,  in  his  Answer  in  the  Chancery  Suit,  says  that  his  father  married  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Edward  Remching.  This  is  obviously  a  mistake,  since  Edward  Remching,  as  a  minor  in 
1  567,  could  not  possibly  have  been  the  father  of  a  daughter  of  marriageable  age  in  1574,  the 
year  in  which  Richard  Lincoln  was  married.  The  Chancery  Proceeding  should  read  "  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  Richard  Remchinge."  Edward  Remching,  the  brother,  was  one  of  the 
feoffees  under  the  marriage  settlement,  and  no  doubt  the  lawyer  who  drew  the  Answer  in 
the  Chancery  Proceeding  confused  him  with  Richard,  Elizabeth's  deceased  father.  The  will 
of  Elizabeth  Remching,  Richard  Remching's  widow,  shows  that  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of 
Edward  Remching,  was  living  and  unmarried  in  1595. 


154  APPENDIX 

ordayne  this  my  last  will  and  testamt  in  manner  and  forme  folowinge 
ffirst  I  commend  my  soule  into  the  hands  of  god  my  maker  ....  and 
I  will  that  my  bodie  shalbe  buryed  in  the  churche  of  the  towne  of  Car- 
brooke ....  in  the  grave  wherein  my  late  husband  Richard  Rem- 
chinge  was  layed  Item  I  giue  to  the  parishners  of  the  sayed  towne 
of  Carbrooke  my  greate  Bible  to  remayne  there  in  the  churche  for 
euer  Item  I  giue  to  the  poore  people  of  Carbrooke  twentie  shillinges 
Item  I  giue  to  John  Tryndle  minister  of  Ovington  tenne  shillinges 
Item  I  bequeathe  to  Mr  Welles  minister  of  Wymondham  tenne  shil- 
linges Allso  I  giue  and  bequeathe  fortie  shillinges  to  be  bestowed  in 
making  vp  and  finishing  a  convenient  wall  and  other  necessaryes  for 
a  well  to  be  made  at  the  Springe  called  Becketts  well  beyng  at  the 
Abbey  Barne  Yardes  and  next  the  myll  in  Wymondham  I  bequeathe 
to  Mr  ffurneys  precher  at  Set  Andrewes  parishe  in  Norwiche  tenne 
shillinges  Item  I  giue  to  Mr  Nutte  of  Norwiche  precher  tenne  shil- 
linges Item  I  giue  to  John  Kett  my  sonne  in  lawe  my  graye  nagge 
which  he  vse  to  ryde  on  and  one  siluer  spoone  Item  I  giue  to  Mary 
my  daughter  wife  of  the  sayed  John  Kett  my  playne  old  greate  cofer 
with  one  worsted  gowne  of  my  late  husbandes  which  lyeth  in  the  same 
Item  I  giue  vnto  the  sayed  Mary  one  payer  of  sheetes  ....  one  fyne 
smocke  late  my  sister  Coldams  which  she  gaue  vnto  me  and  one  cup- 
board which  standeth  in  the  hall  of  the  hovse  of  the  saysd  John  Kett 
where  he  nowe  dwelleth  in  Wymondham.  .  .  .  Item  I  giue  vnto 
Sarah  Kett  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  sayed  Mary  Kett  one  saye 
gowne  with  a  ueluet  cape  one  booke  called  Beza  his  testament  and 
twentie  shillinges  in  money  Item  I  giue  vnto  Mary  Kett  one  other 
of  my  sayed  daughter  Mary  Kett  her  daughters  one  payer  of  course 
sheetes  ....  one  litle  prayer  booke  and  twentie  shillinges  in  money 
Item  I  giue  vnto  Elizabeth  one  other  of  the  daughters  of  my  sayed 
daughter  Mary  Kett  one  other  payer  of  course  sheetes  ....  one  litle 
prayer  booke  and  twentie  shillinges  in  money  Item  I  giue  vnto 
Judith  one  other  of  the  daughters  of  my  sayed  daughter  Mary  Kett 
one  other  payer  of  course  sheetes  ....  one  litle  prayer  booke  and 
twentie  shillinges  in  money  Item  I  giue  vnto  Susan  an  other  of  the 
daughters  of  my  sayed  daughter  Mary  one  other  payer  of  course 
sheetes  ....  one  litle  prayer  booke  and  twentie  shillinges  in  money 
Item  I  giue  vnto  Priscilla  an  other  of  the  daughters  of  my  sayed 
daughter  Mary  one  other  payer  of  course  sheetes  ....  one  litle  prayer 


APPENDIX  155 

booke  and  twentie  shillinges  in  money  Item  I  giue  vnto  Lidea  an 
other  of  the  daughters  of  my  sayed  daughter  Mary  one  other  payer  of 
course  sheetes  one  posuet  brighte  within  and  without  one  litle  prayer 
booke  and  twentie  shillinges  in  money  Item  I  giue  vnto  euery  one 
of  the  sayed  children  of  my  sayed  daughter  aboue  the  sayed  parcells 
before  giuen  one  pewter  disshe  and  one  siluer  spoone  Item  I  giue 
vnto  my  daughter  in  lawe  Elizabeth  Remchinge  my  sonne  Edward 
Remchinge  his  wife  my  gowne  which  cam  from  London  which  is  of 
stvffe  one  silke  grogorane  kirtle  one  stammell  pettycoate  with  a  red 
silke  frynge  all  my  wearinge  lynnen  and  all  the  other  lynnen  which  I 
haue  besydes  whereof  my  mynde  ys  that  parte  be  distributed  to  Eliza- 
beth Remchinge  and  Mary  Remchinge  daughters  of  my  sayed  sonne 
Edward  Item  I  giue  vnto  Edmond  Remchinge  sonne  vnto  my  sayed 
sonne  Edward  one  goblett  with  a  couer  bothe  parcell  guilte  which  was 
my  fathers  ....  my  greate  copper  cawdron  one  greate  brasse  pott  with 
the  marke  of  a  key  on  the  syde  thereof  which  was  my  fathers  .... 
and  all  my  bookes  whatsoeuer  not  bequeathed  Item  all  the  residue 
of  my  pewter  I  giue  to  the  children  of  my  sayed  sonne  Edward  Item 
I  giue  vnto  Richard  Remchinge  my  grandchilde  and  sonne  vnto  the 
sayed  Edward  the  featherbed  which  I  lie  on  ...  .  and  one  white  couer- 
lett  with  braunches  Item  I  giue  vnto  Thomas  Remchinge  one  other 
of  the  sayed  Edward  his  sonnes  my  bedstead  which  standeth  ouer  the 
parlor  where  I  lie  Item  whereas  Richard  Remchinge  my  sonne  hath 
receyued  of  one  John  Reston  to  my  vse  the  somme  of  fortie  poundes 
....  my  mynde  ys  that  the  sayed  Richard  ....  shall  fourthwithpaye 
the  sayed  money  to  myne  executor.  .  .  .  Item  I  do  freelie  forgiue 
vnto  all  my  sonnes  and  to  my  sonne  in  lawe  John  Kett  all  svch  debtes 
as  they  do  owe  me  Item  I  giue  moreouer  vnto  euery  one  of  my  sonne 
Edward  his  children  one  siluer  spoone  The  Residue  of  all  my  goodes 
I  giue  to  my  sayed  sonne  Edward  and  Elizabeth  his  wife  and  I 
make  the  sayed  Edward  my  executor  chardginge  him  to  performethis 
my  testament  and  last  will  accordinge  to  my  true  meaninge  as  he  will 
awnswere  the  contrary  at  the  generall  daye  of  Judgment  And  I  do 
make  Thomas  Leverington  gentleman  my  supravisor  herof  to  whome 
for  his  paynes  I  giue  tenne  shillinges  in  gould.  Elizabeth  Rem- 
chinge. 'Testibus  Thoma  Weld  the  marke  of  Richard  Cadwold  John 
Kett.  Proved  14.  May,  1595,  by  John  Theaker,  notary  public,  proc- 
tor for  Edward  Remchinge,  son  and  executor. 


i56 


APPENDIX 


\_Con.    'Norwich,  Vol.   i6\g,fo.  204.] 

Will  of  Edward  Remchinge  of  Thetford.  Dated  4  Nov.,  16 
Jas.  I.  To  be  buried  in  St.  Cuthbert's  church,  Thetford.  To  Edmond 
Remchinge  my  son  and  heir  all  my  messuages,  tenements,  orchards, 
with  their  appurtenances,  wherein  I  now  dwell  in  Thetford,  on  condi- 
tion that  he  pay  my  daughter  Mary  within  one  year  after  the  decease 
of  Elizabeth  my  wife  £20,  my  daughter  Bridget  within  two  years 
after  the  decease  of  said  Elizabeth  ^20,  and  my  daughter  Martha 
within  three  years  after  the  decease  of  said  Elizabeth  £10.  To  my 
son  Thomas  Remchinge,  gown.  To  John  Wardroper  my  kinsman, 
clothing.  Residuary  legatee  and  executrix,  my  wife  Elizabeth.  Wit- 
nesses: Charles  Eden,  Robert  Reder.  Proved  4  May,  16 19,  by  the 
executrix. 

[P.  C.  C.  Pecke,fo.  153.] 

Will  of  Robert  Pecke,  Minister  of  the  word  of  God  at  Hingham, 
co.  Norfolk,  dated  24  July,  1651.  I  give  to  Thomas,  my  son,  and 
Samuel,  my  son,  and  to  their  heirs  for  ever,  my  messuage  wherein  I 
now  dwell  situate  in  Hingham,  with  all  thereto  belonging;  also  one 
inclose  now  divided  called  the  Lady  close,  containing  about  8  acres; 
also  one  pightell  at  the  end  thereof  containing  2  acres,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  my  legacies.  To  Robert  Pecke,  son  of  my  son  Robert  de- 
ceased, 10  li  at  his  age  of  23.  To  John  Pecke,  son  of  the  said  Robert 
deceased,  10 //  at  his  age  of  22.  To  Benjamin  Pecke,  youngest  son 
of  the  said  Robert  deceased,  10  li  at  his  age  of  22.  To  the  children 
of  Anne  Mason,  my  daughter,  wife  of  Captain  John  Mason  of  Sea- 
brooke,  on  the  river  Connecticot  in  New  England,  40  //  to  be  divided 
equally  among  them,  and  to  be  sent  to  my  son  John  Mason  to  dispose 
of  it  for  their  use.  To  my  son  Joseph,  14//  yearly,  during  his  life,  to 
be  in  the  hands  of  my  sons  Thomas  and  Samuel  as  it  shall  arise  out 
of  my  houses  &c,  and  I  commit  my  said  son  Joseph  to  their  care.  To 
the  children  of  Thomas  and  Samuel,  my  sons,  5  li  a  piece  at  their  ages 
of  2 1.  To  my  now  wife  Martha  Pecke,  40//.  To  the  poor  of  Hingham, 
5//'.  Exors:  Thomas  and  Samuel  Pecke,  to  whom  also  I  leave  the 
residue  of  my  goods  for  the  payment  of  my  debts.  If  I  die  in  Hing- 
ham I  desire  to  be  buried  in  the  churchyard,  near  to  Anne  my  wife  de- 
ceased. Signed:  Robert  Pecke.  No  witnesses.  Proved  ioApril,  1658, 
by  Samuel  Pecke,  one  of  the  executors  named,  with  power  reserved. 


IV 

REGISTERS  OF  HINGHAM,  NORFOLK 

1600  to  1645  l 

1600  Richard  son  of  Edward  Lincoln  bapt.  20  September 
Annes,  daughter  of  Hugh  Lincoln,  bapt.  15  March 

1 601  William  Lincoln  buried  [date  faded~\  June 
Robert,  son  of  George  Lincoln,  bapt.  27  September 
Robert  Lincoln  and  Annes  Bore  [?]  married  18  October 

1603      Robert  Lincoln  and  Annes  Harman  marr:  7  November 
Alice,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  19  February 

1605  Judith,  daughter  of  Hugh  Lincoln,  bapt.  18  August 
Richard  Lincoln  and  Alice  Howse  marr:  20  October 

1606  Sarah,  daughter  of  Edward  Lincoln,  bapt.  13  April 
Anthonie,  son  of  George  Lincoln,  bapt.  17  August 
William,  son  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  2  November 
John,  son  of   Richard    Lincoln,   bapt.    14    November   and 

buried  7  Dec. 

1607  Mary,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  1  November 
Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  20  Dec.  and  buried 

21  January  following 

1608  Richard,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  13  November 
Abigail,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  20  November 

1610  John,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  20  May 
Anna,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  12  August 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  17  February 

161 1  John,  son  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  15  March 
William  Godfreye  and  Ann  Lincolne  marr:  2  November 

1612  Grace,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  14  June 

1 6 13  Peter,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  31  July 

1 6 14  Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  12  June 
Robert,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  2  October 

«  All  dates  are  Old  Style. 


iS8  APPENDIX 

1 6 14  Alice  Lincoln  buried  19  July- 
Robert,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  buried  5  October 

161 5  Ann,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  22  October 
Robert,  son  of  Edward  Lincoln,  bapt.  19  November 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  buried  15  July 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  3  March 

161 6  Richard  Lincoln  buried  21  October 

1 617  Mary,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  26  July 
Katherine,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  1  February 
John  Lincoln  buried  23  February 

1 61 8  Mary,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  30  May 
Thomas  Balding  and  Alice  Lincolne  married  14  August 

1619  Daniel,  son  of  Edward  Lincoln,  bapt.  28  March 
Pieke,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  2  May 
Abigail,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  buried  7  June 

1620  Robert,  son  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  27  August 
Adam,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  28  January 
Robert,  son  of  Robert  Lincoln,  buried  25  November 
Richard  Lincoln  buried  23  December 

1 62 1  William,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  10  January 

1622  Samuel,  son  of  Edward  Lincoln,  bapt.  24  August 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln  of  Norwoode,  bapt. 

16  February 

1623  Robert,  son  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  28  June 

1624  Robert  Lincoln  buried  2  April 

1625  Amye,  daughter  of  Edward  Lincoln,  bapt.  11  December 
Ann,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  19  February 
Richard  Lincolne  and  Frances  Reynolds  married  14  August 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Richard  Lincoln,  butcher,  buried  3  May 
Margery  Lincoln,  widow,  buried  7  June 

Edinye  Lincoln,  widow,  buried  22  July 

Amy,  wife  of  Hugh  Lincoln,  buried  9  September 

Hugh  Lincoln  buried  21  September 

1626  Richard,  son  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  9  April 

William  Lincolne  and  Elizabeth  Wellam  marr:  14  September 
James  Baldinge  and  Alice  Lincolne  marr :  23  January 
Amy,  daughter  of  Edward  Lincoln,  buried  17  June 
Agnes  Lincoln,  widow,  buried  1 1  July 


APPENDIX  159 

1627  Arthur  Cogman  and  Dorothy  Lincolne  marr:  6  November 

1628  Richard,  son  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  13  April 
1630     George,  son  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  1  August 

William  Lincolne  and  Susan  Wryghte  marr :  30  January 
1 63  1      Susan,  daughter  of  William  Lincolne,  bapt.  16  May 

1632  John  Lincolne  and  Alice  Staveleye  marr:  11  October 

1633  John,  son  of  John  Lincoln,  bapt.  27  May 

1634  Bridget,  daughter  of  Robert  Lincoln,  bapt.  7  September 

1635  Robert,  son  of  John  and  Alice  Lincoln,  bapt.  26  October 

1636  Edward  Lincolne  and  Mary  Porter  marr  :  19  May 

1637  Richard,  son  of  Richard  and  Mary  Lincoln,  bapt.  4  March 
John  Woodcock  &  Elizabeth  Lincolne  marr:  31  August 
Henry  Barnewell  &  Ann  Lincolne  marr:  18  October 

1638  Dorothy,  daughter  of  John  &  Alice  Lincoln,  bapt.  23   No- 

vember 

1639  Susan,  daughter  of  Robert  &  Ann  Lincoln,  bapt.   17  No- 

vember 
Richard  Lincoln,  butcher,  buried  15  October 
Frances  Lincoln,  widow,  buried  28  October 
Edward  Lincoln,  the  elder,  buried  11  February 

1640  Susan,  daughter  of  John  &  Alice  Lincoln,  bapt.  31  January 
Richard  Lincoln,  brewer,  buried  15  August 

1 641  Daniel,  son  of  Robert  &  Martha  Lincoln,  bapt.  5  September 
Susan  Lincoln  buried  15  April 

1642  \JVhole  year  missing] 

1643  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Edward  Lincoln,  bapt.  28  May 
Mary  &  Rebecca,  daughters   of  Edward  Lincoln,  buried  12 

July 

1644  Ann,  wife  of  Robert  Lincoln,  buried  28  December 
Mary,  daughter  of  Edward  Lincoln,  bapt.  5  January 

1645  Richard,  son  of  Pyke  Lincoln,  bapt.  9  March  (1644-5)  an<^ 

buried  27  March 
Mary,  daughter  of  Richard  Lincoln,  bapt.  1 8  December 


V 

REGISTERS  OF 
SWANTON   MORLEY,   NORFOLK 

1548  to  1675 

BAPTISMS 

1569     Margaret  Lyncolne  bap:  19  March 

1 57 1  Bridget  Lyncolne  bap:  26  Aug: 

1572  Cecilia  Lincolne  bap:  19  Oct: 

1576  Thos:  son  of  John  Lincolne,  bap:  27  June 

1578  Will:  son  of  John  Lincolne,  bap:  15  Dec: 

1580  Robt:  son  of  John  Lincolne,  bap:  17  Nov: 

1 58 1  Franciscus,  filia  [sic]  John  Lincolne,  bap:  4  Feb: 

•filius- 
1583     Anna,  dau:  of  John  Lincolne,  bap:  5  Oct: 
1585      Rich:  son  of  John  Lincolne,  bap:  21  Feb: 
1588     Cath:  dau:  of  John  Lincolne,  bap:  1  Sept: 
1590     Susan,  dau:  of  John  Lincolne,  bap:  29  March 
1595     Xpoferus,  spurius  Marie  Lincolne,  bap:  21  March 
1597     John,  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  26  February 

1599  Ann,  dau:  of  Rich:  Lincolne,  bap:  6  May 
Edmund,  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  10  June 

1600  Thos:  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  28  Dec: 

1602  Will:  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  28  Sept: 

Eliz:  dau:  of  Rich :  Lincolne,  bap:  [no  date]  of  Nov: 

1603  Robt:  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  19  Feb: 

1605  Henry,  son  of  Rich:  Lincolne,  bap:  23  June 

1606  Rich:  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  2  Feb: 
1610  Ann,  dau.  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  1  June 
1 61 2  Alice,  dau:  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  5  July 
161 5  Henry,  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  bap:  26  Dec: 
1633  Ann,  dau:  of  Eliz:  Lincolne,  bap:  9  July 


APPENDIX  161 

1637      Rich:  LIncolne,  son  of  Rich:  Lincolne  &  Mag his  wife, 

bap:  27  [?]  Jan: 

1640  Will:  son  of  Rich:  Lincolne  &  Margaret  his  wife,  bap.  16 

June 
Henry,  son  of  Henry  Lincolne  &  Mary  his  wife,  bap:  18 
Aug: 

1 641  Rich:  son  of  Henry  Lincolne,  bap:  2  Nov: 

1642  Anne,  dau:  of  Henry  Lincolne,  bap:  [no  date]  of  March 

1643  Thos  :  son  of  Rich  :  Lincolne,  bap:  [no  date]  April 

1645  Mary,  dau:  of  Henry  Lincolne,  bap:  21  Dec: 

1646  John,  son  of  Rich  :  Lincolne,  bap:  18  April 

1647  Rich:  son  of  Henry  Lincolne,  bap:  3  May 

1648  Dorothea,  dau:  of  Henry  Lincolne,  bap:  17  Feb: 
1650  Thos:  son  of  Henry  Lincolne,  bap:  19  Oct: 

1652     Will:  son  of  Rich:  Lincolne  &  Jane  his  wife,  bap:  19  Oct: 
Joseph,  son  of  Henry  Lincolne  &  Mary  his  wife,  bap:  14 
Oct: 

1660  Charles,  son  of  Rich :  Lincolne,  bap:  23  Sept: 

1 66 1  Mary,  dau:  of  Henry  Lincolne,  bap:  17  Nov: 

1669      Eli:  dau:  of  Thos:  Lincolne  &  Marg:  his  wife,  bap:  14  Feb: 
1 67 1      Margaret,  dau :  of  Thos :  Lincolne  &  Margaret  his  wife,  bap : 

17  [or  27,  almost  illegible] 
1673      Rich:  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne  &  Margaret  his  wife,  bap:  26 

Feb: 
1675      Ricn:  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne  &  Margaret  his  wife,  bap:  15 

Jan: 

MARRIAGES     1538-1675 
1665     Thos  :  Lincolne  &  Margaret  Howlet  were  married  10  Oct : 

BURIALS:   1538-1675 

1557  John  Lincolne  buried  7  March 

1558  Will:  Lincolne  buried  27  Nov: 

1559  Henry  Lincolne  buried  25  Sept: 
1570  Margaret  Lincolne  buried  9  April 

1589  Will:  Lincolne  buried  17  Sept: 

1590  Eliz:  wife  of  John  Lincolne,  buried  28  March 


162  APPENDIX 

1593  Eliz:  Lincolne,  widow,  buried  3  Dec: 

1607  Rich:  son  of  Thos  :  Lincolne,  buried  22  May 

1608  Eliz:  dau:  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  buried  22  April 
1 6 14  Thos:  Lincolne,  buried  17  Dec: 

16 1 6  Henry,  son  of  Thos:  Lincolne,  buried  15  Aug: 

1630  Robert  Lincolne  buried  6  Feb: 

1636  Anne  Lincolne,  wife  of  Rich:  Lincolne,  buried  30  Dec: 

1643  Anne,  dau  :  of  Henry  Lincolne,  buried  28  April 

1645  Rich:  son  of  Henry  Lincolne,  buried  29  June 

1649  Will:  Lincolne,  son  of  Rich :  Lincolne,  buried  5  July 

Margaret,  wife  of  Rich:  Lincolne,  buried  22  Feb: 

1660  Rich:  Lincolne  was  buried  22  Jan: 

1662  Eliz  :  dau :  of  Henry  Lincolne  [?]  [MS.  almost  illegible]  buried 

5  June 
Henry,  son  of  the  widow  Lincolne  [?]  [very  illegible]  buried 

27  June 

1664     Mary,  dau:  of  Henry  Lincolne,  buried  7  Sept: 

Mary,  wife  of  Henry  Lincolne,  buried  5  Jan: 

1667      Henry  Lincolne,  Senr,  buried  22  July 

1 67 1  Jane  Linckold  [?] ,  dau :  of  Thos :  Ly  ncold  [?]  buried  1 7  Dec  : 

1672  Margaret  Lincolne,  soluta,  buried  28  July 


VI 
CARBROOKE   PARISH   REGISTER 

BAPTISMS:   1 541-1600 

1549  Anne  Rimshing    daughter  of   Richard   Rimshing,  23   Sep- 

tember. 

1550  Marye  Rimshinge  daughter  of  Richard  Rymshinge,  14  No- 

vember. 

1 55 1  Richard  Rimshinge  son  of  Richard  Rimshing  gent,  28  Au- 

gust. 
1553      Thomas  Rimshinge  son  of  Richard  Rimshinge,  22  January. 

1555  Thomas  Knight  son  of  Robert  Knight,  5  January. 

1574  Henrye  Linckone  son  of  Richard  Lincolne,  2  November. 

1579  Mary  Rimshing  daughter  of  Edward  Rimshing,  22  July. 

1580  Edmond  Rimshinge  son  of  Edward  Rimshinge,  19  June. 
1582  Richard  Rimshinge  son  of  Edward  Rimshinge,  20  January. 

MARRIAGES:  1539-1600 
1599     John  Murrell  and  Agnes  Lynkon,  25  November. 

BURIALS:   1539-1600 

1 55 1  Thomas  Knight  son  of  Robert  Knighte,  12  March. 

1553  Johane  Knight  daughter  of  Robert  Knight,  28  January. 

1556  Thomas  Knight  son  of  Robert  Knight,  17  September. 
1567  Richard  Remching  was  buried  the  24th  daie  of  Marche. 
1579  Mary  Remsching  buried  the  5th  of  August. 

1584     Elizabeth  Remching  daughter  of  Richard  Remching,  24  April. 

,(/*\j.  Elizabeth  Remching,  widow  of  Richard,  who  died  1595  and  in  her  will  desired 
to  be  buried  with  her  late  husband  in  Carbrooke  Church,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
buried  there. 


1 64  APPENDIX 

A  REGISTER  OF    PERSONS  ABOUT  TO  PASS    INTO 

FOREIGN    PARTS 

[State  Papers  in  Public  Record  Office, ,] 

These  people  went  to  New  England:  with  William:  Andrewes: 
of  Ipswich  Mr  of  the  John:  and  Dorothey  :  of  Ipswich  and  with  Wil- 
liam Andrewes  his  sone.  Mr.  of  the  Rose:  of  Yarmouth. 

April)  .  .  .  {¥ he  examination  of  i^)rancis:  Lawes:  born  in  Nor- 
wich in  Norff  and  their  liuing  Weauear/ aged nd 

Liddea  :  his  Wife/ageed/49  yeares/With  one  Child  Marey:  and  1 
sarauants,  Samuell:  Lincorne:  aged  181  yeares/and  Anne:  Smith: 
aged  19  yeares  ar  desirous  to  passe  for  New  England  to  inhabitt/// 

1  Sic  in  the  record,  but,  unless  he  were  three  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  baptism  (which 
is  possible),  he  was  only  fifteen  at  the  time  of  the  emigration. 


VII 

ACCOUNT  OF  BAPTISMAL  FONT  FROM 
HINGHAM  CHURCH 

Trinity  Parish, 

Vicarage  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Intercession, 

Audubon  Park,   New  York  City. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Mr.  Bartow  has  sent  your  letter  to  me  and  I  hasten 
to  send  the  enclosed  account.  I  am  very  glad  that  you  have  seen 
the  beautiful  church  in  Cohasset  where  is  the  font  about  which  you 
inquired,  and  I  thank  you  very  much  for  your  kind  words  concerning 
the  building,  of  which  all  of  us  who  had  a  share  in  rearing  it  are  per- 
haps pardonably  proud,  and  I  am  therefore  greatly  pleased  to  know 
that  you  will  say  something  of  the  font  in  your  Lincoln  article. 

Hingham  Church  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  Norfolk;  it  is 
large  —  seating  800,  with  a  splendid  Chancel  50  or  more  feet  deep. 
It  was  evidently  monastic,  but  escaped  any  serious  damage.  Crom- 
well broke  the  windows  and  much  carved  work  including  the  font, 
but  left  enough  so  that  it  has  been  possible  to  restore  things  cor- 
rectly. Dr.  Wodehouse,  the  former  Rector,  a  man  of  taste  and  large 
means,  did  much  good  work,  and  so  has  the  present  Rector.  But 
with  changing  times  Hingham  does  not  always  find  it  easy  to  keep 
up  this  most  interesting  and  to  Americans  Historic  Church.  I  was 
greatly  interested  in  an  effort  which  Dr.  Upcher  hopes  to  make  to 
restore  some  beautiful  carved  stone  sedilia  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Chancel.  It  would  cost  #1000  to  do  it.  Could  n't  we  help  that  along 
and  perhaps  make  it  a  monument  to  Lincoln  in  the  place  of  his 
family  origin?  I  should  gladly  act  as  Treasurer  and  would  give  my 
share  to  such  a  fund.  Will  you  tell  me  if  the  matter  appeals  to  you? 

If  in  any  way  I  can  further  aid  you,  will  you  give  me  the  pleasure 
of  doing  so? 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

{Signed)     Milo  H.  Gates, 

Vicar  in  'Trinity  Parish. 

Dec.  16,  1907. 

Mr.  J.  Henry  Lea. 


166  APPENDIX 


ENCLOSURE 


When  we  were  building  the  church  at  Cohasset,  originally  the  first 
Precinct  of  Hingham,  Mass.,  I  was  desirous  to  have  in  the  new  church 
something  from  the  old  church  in  Hingham,  England,  because  the 
early  settlers  of  Hingham  in  New  England  were  either  from  the 
old  town  or  the  surrounding  region.  And  more  especially  because 
my  own  ancestor,  Stephen  Gates,  had  come  from  Hingham,  England, 
to  Hingham,  Mass.,  in  1638  in  the  ship  "  Diligent,"  sailing  from  Ips- 
wich, England,  and  by  a  curious  coincidence  I  had  been  called  from 
Ipswich,  New  England,  to  be  Rector  of  Cohasset,  originally  part  of 
Hingham,  just  ten  generations  later.  I  wrote  of  this  to  the  Rev. 
A.  C.  W.  Upcher,  Rector  of  Hingham,  and  he  and  his  vestry  very 
kindly  gave  me  what  remained  of  the  original  font  of  the  Hingham 
church,  in  which,  as  I  found,  many  of  my  ancestors  and  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Hingham,  Mass.,  were  baptised.  After  some  study  we  re- 
solved to  restore  the  font,  leaving  the  pedestal  untouched,  to  what  was 
its  original  form.  A  drawing  was  made  by  Mr.  Bertram  G.  Goodhue 
of  Cram,  Goodhue  &  Ferguson  of  Boston,  and  in  pieces  of  old 
Caen  stone  of  about  the  age  of  the  pedestal  (the  font  is  fourteenth- 
century  work).  The  work  was  executed  by  John  Evans  &  Co.  of 
Boston;  so  that  the  font  in  my  Cohasset  church  is  no  doubt  as  like 
as  possible  to  that  in  which  Abraham  Lincoln's  ancestors  were  chris- 
tened. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  Hingham  last  summer  and  being 
the  guest  of  Mr.  Upcher  and  of  preaching  in  old  St.  Andrew's 
Church.  The  church  and  the  town  have  I  should  think  changed  little; 
the  church  not  at  all,  having  been  most  faithfully  preserved  by  Dr. 
Upcher,  who  is  a  most  intellectual  man  as  well  as  a  fine  type  of  the 
English  university  clergyman.  While  there  I  copied  the  enclosed 
from  a  monograph  on  St.  Andrew's  Church  by  J.  Barham  John- 
son, M.  A. 

FROM  J.   BARHAM  JOHNSON,  M.  A. 

"  Happily,  a  part  of  its  shaft  has  escaped  destruction,  sufficiently 
large  and  with  sufficient  of  its  enrichment  remaining  to  enable  an 
architect  to  reproduce  it.  It  was  enriched  by  deeply  sunk  canopied 
and  crotcheted  niches,  under  which  were  formerly  statues  on  pedes- 


APPENDIX  167 

tals.  There  were  crotcheted  pinnacles  at  the  angles.  Its  bowl  had 
panels  enriched  with  tracery  or  possibly  foliage  ornaments.  It  was 
not  usual  in  the  fourteenth  century  to  introduce  figures.  The  font 
was  raised  on  three  steps,  and  probably  there  was  incised  on  the  rises 
of  the  lowest  step  this  Greek  anagram,  which  reads  either  from  left 
to  right  or  right  to  left :  'NI^ON  ANOMHMA  MH  MONAN  O^IN.' 
Translated,  'Wash  (away)  my  transgressions  and  not  my  face  only." 


VIII 
WILLS   (AMERICAN) 

[Registered  Philadelphia,  Book  E,  page  370.] 

Will  of  Mordecai  Lincon  of  Amity  in  the  County  of  Phila- 
delphia, being  sick.  Dated  11  February,  1735.  Pro.  7  June,  1736. 
To  son  Mordecai  Linkon  half  of  my  land  in  Amity.  To  son  Thomas 
Linkon  the  other  half  with  this  proviso  that  if  my  present  wife  Mary 
should  prove  with  Child  at  my  decease  and  bring  forth  a  son,  the  said 
land  shall  be  divided  into  three  parts:  Mordecai  to  have  the  lower- 
most or  S.  E.  part,  Thomas  the  middle,  and  the  posthumes  the  upper 
part.  To  daughters  Hannah  and  Mary  a  certain  piece  of  land  at 
Matjaponia,1  already  settled  on  them  by  deed  of  gift.  To  son  John 
Lincon  a  piece  of  land  in  the  Jerseys  containing  300  acres.  To  two 
daughters  Ann  and  Sarah  100  acres  at  Matjaponia  in  the  Jerseys 
which  my  executor  is  to  sell  and  divide  the  money  between  them.  To 
wife  Mary  the  residue  of  estate  with  privilege  of  a  home  till  children 
are  of  age  to  enable  her  to  bring  up  all  my  children,  and  she  to  be 
executrix.  Friends  and  neighbors  Jonathan  Robeson  and  George 
Boone  to  be  Trustees.  Witnesses:  Israel  Robeson,  Solomon  Coles 
{affirmed),  John  Bell  {sworn). 

[Registered  Philadelphia,  Book  G,  page  194.] 

Will  of  Abraham  Lincon  of  Springfield,  Blacksmith,  being  sick. 
Dated  15  iVpril  1745.  Proved  29  April,  1745.  To  son  John  the  land 
and  appurtenances  (part  of  plantation  whereon  I  now  dwell)  on  N.  E. 
side  of  road  to  Chester,  but  if  he  die  under  age  the  same  to  go  to  son 
Abraham.  To  son  Jacob  residue  of  plantation  on  S.  W.  side  of  road, 
he  to  build  a  brick  house  for  son  John  within  ten  years,  17  feet  square, 
etc.  To  son  Mordecai,  if  he  returns  to  this  province  within  7  years, 
the  messuage  or  Tenement  which  I  purchased  of  William  Clayer 
in  Philadelphia  city,  otherwise  the  same  to  son  Isaac,  he  paying  to 
Mordecai  if  he  should  afterward  return  £$.  To  daughter  Rebecca 

1  Machaponix. 


u 


APPENDIX  169 

my  other  messuage  adjoining  the  first,  purchased  of  Humphrey  Class 
and  John  Claytor,  if  she  die  the  same  to  go  to  son  Isaac.  To  daughter 
Sarah  certain  furniture.  To  son  Abraham  £36  lent  him  some  time 
since.  Residue  after  maintaining  son  John  till  14  years  of  age,  to  be 
divided  between  Abraham  and  Isaac.  Friends  Robert  Taylor  of 
Marple  and  Joshua  Thompson  of  Ridley  to  be  Executors.  Witnesses: 
Benanuel  Lownes,  John  Morton,  Iza:  Pearson.  Inventory  made  30 
April,  1745,  by  John  Davis  and  John  Hall  £319"  16"  10. 

Accounts  filed  7  June,  1746. 
Advance  on  sale  £13  "10  5^. 

Paid  to  Isaac  Lincon  118  "19  "6 

"  Abraham  Lincon  129"  7  "2j4 

"  Sarah  Lincon  in  goods  22  "14  "o 
"      "  Isaac  Lincon  balance  5"i2"o%\ 

[Registered  Philadelphia,  Book  X*,  page  313.] 

James  Carter  of  Abington,  gentleman.  Dated  22  July,  1793. 
Proved  15  Aug.,  1795.  Eldest  daughter  Hester  Parry,  youngest 
daughter  Elizabeth  Carter,  sister  Sarah  Ferril,  godson  Carter  Parry, 
brother  William,  friend  Garret  Dungan,  friend  John  McGraudy, 
son  in  law  Rowland  Parry,  sole  Executor.  Witnesses  Jas.  Glen, 
Thomas  Livezey. 

[Registered  Philadelphia,  Book  Y*,  page  127.] 

Joseph  Rush  of  Philadelphia.  Dated  1  May,  1796.  Proved  16 
January,  1799.  Wife  Elizabeth  Rush.  My  nine  children  namely  — 
Elizabeth  Allen,  Mary  Tatem,  William  Rush,  Catherine  Cochrin, 
Susanna  Rush,  Benjamin  Rush,  Esther  Rush,  Sarah  Rush,  and 
James  Rush.  Executors :  Wife  Elizabeth,  friends  James  Irwin  & 
Capt.  Robt.  Bethell. 

DELAWARE  COUNTY  PROBATE   RECORDS 

Moses  Lincoln:  administration  of  estate  granted  to  Jacob  Lincoln 
11  March,  1835.  George  and  Michael  Lincoln,  Sureties.  Net  estate 
#1372.66. 

Michael  Lincoln :  administration  of  estate  granted  to  Jacob  Lincoln 
6  January,  1848.  George  Lincoln  and  Robert  Plumstead,  Sureties. 


170  APPENDIX 

William  Lincoln:  administration  of  estate  granted  to  Elizabeth  P. 
Lincoln,  23  October,  1856. 

Will  of  Jacob  Lincoln  of  Darby.  Dated  2-21-1848.  Proved  5 
December,  1848.  To  wife  Eliza  &  son  William  all  money  in  hand 
or  due  me  at  my  death.  To  son  William  the  Plantation  in  Upper 
Darby  on  which  he  resides  containing  21  acres  &  my  lot  in  Darby 
bought  of  David  Levis  containing  18  acres.  To  wife  the  Plantation 
we  live  on  in  Derby  containing  24  acres,  during  her  life  &  afterward 
to  son  William,  remainder  to  William.  Executors:  wife  Eliza  &  son 
William.  Witnesses:  John  Jackson,  Geo.  S.  Truman. 


IX 

PENNSYLVANIA   RECORDS 

SWEDES'    CHURCH,   PHILADELPHIA 

John  Linkhorn  and  Elizabeth  O'Neal  8  October  178 11 
John  Hart  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln  7  July  1791 
Jacob  Lincoln  and  Mary  Taylor  ii  April  1792 
Moses  Lincoln  and  Barbara  Kinch  19  March  1795 

FIRST    BAPTIST    CHURCH,  PHILADELPHIA 

James  Carter  and  Rebecca  Lincoln  7  March  1763 

FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,  PHILADELPHIA 

Daniel  Lincoln  and  Mary  Medley  6mo  2nd.  17422 

ST.    MICHAEL'S   AND    ZION    CHURCH, 
PHILADELPHIA 

177 1.     Samuel  Pastorius  married  Sarah  Lincon  November  28 

William  Lincoln,  Delaware  County)  Married  by  Jas.  Haslet,  Esq. 

Elizabeth  P.  Phipps,  Doe  Run  f      at  Doe  Run  l6  December 

J       1845 

CHRIST   CHURCH,   PHILADELPHIA 

CHRISTENINGS 

1735     August  3      Mordecai,  son  of  Abraham  &  Rebecca  Lincoln 

aged  15  months. 
1749      February  1 1     John  son  of  John  and  Catherine  Lincoln  born 

Dec.  17  1749. 

1  See  also  N.  T.  Gen.  and  Biog.  Record  for  1872,  p.  71. 

a  See  N.  T.  Gen.  and  Biog.  Record,  April,  1872,  p.  69,  also  148. 


172  APPENDIX 

MARRIAGES 

1746  December  31      Isaac  Lincoln  and  Mary  Shute 

1750  September  19     Joseph  Rush  and  Rebecca  Lincoln 

1763  July  17     James  Gregory  and  Margaret  Lincoln 

1806  May  19     Benjamin  Lincoln  and  Ann  Cowan 

KINGSSESSING   SWEDES'    CHURCH    REGISTERS, 
PHILADELPHIA   COUNTY 

RECORDS   DATE    FROM    1750 

BAPTISMS 

Catarina  Linkhorn  at  Kinsessing,  born  16  June,  bapt.  30  June  1751, 

father  Jacob   Linkhorn,   mother  Anne   Linkhorn ;  Godfather 

Olive  Parlin,  Godmother  Mary  Rambo. 
Anna  Linckhorn  born  8  August,  bapt.   23   September   1753,  father 

Abram  Linckhorn,  mother  Ann  Linckhorn;  Godfathers  Moses 

Cox,  Abraham  Jonse,1   Godmothers   Susanna   Smith,   Brigitta 

Camel. 
John  son  of  Jacob  and  Ann  Linkhorn,  born  1  February  1756,  bapt. 

28  March   1756.    Sureties  John  Justice,  Robert  Fawseth  and 

Elizabeth  Justice. 
Rebecca  Lincoln  born   11    December  1757,  bapt.  27  March  1758, 

parents  Jacob  and   Anne   Lincoln.    Sureties  Andrew   Bonde, 

Mons  Rambo  and  Catherine  Cammel. 
Mary  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Ann  Linkhorn,  born  17  August,  bapt. 

2  October  1763.    Sureties  John  Walton,  Ludwig  Stump,  Mar- 

geth  Campbel  and  Ann  Yockom. 
Jacob  son  of  Jacob  and  Ann  Linkhorn,  born  1  April,  bapt.  15  May 

1766.    Sureties  David  Robinson  and  Elizabeth  O'Neal. 

MARRIAGES 
Thomas  Linnon  \jic~\  and  Ann  Rhodes  by  Licence  24  May  1753. 

1  Compare  with  the  Abraham  Jones  of  Hull  whose  daughter  Sarah  married  Mordecai  Lin- 
coln of  Hingham,  Mass.,  before  1686.  It  seems  possible  that  this  was  a  descendant  of  one 
of  Sarah  Jones's  brothers  visiting  his  relatives  in  Pennsylvania.   See  Cognate  Families,  p.  89. 


APPENDIX  173 

BURIAL    GROUND 

Jacob  Lincoln  departed  this  life  5  June  1769  aged  44  years. 
Barbara  Lincoln,  wife  of  Moses  Lincoln  died  28  February  1804  aged 

Ann  Lincoln  died  8  February  1819  aged  94,  wife  of  Jacob. 

Moses  Lincoln  died  22  February  1835  aged  79. 

Moses  Maris  Lincoln  died  22  January  1839  aged  19  years  11  months 

10  days. 
Jacob  Lincoln  died  18  November  1848  aged  53. 
Michael  Lincoln  died  16  October  1844,  aged  43  years  4  months  24 

days. 
Abram    Lincoln    died  19  October  181 1   aged  60,  also  Elizabeth, 

daughter  of  Abram  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln  aged  20  months. 
Elizabeth  Lincoln  died  14  February  1855  aged  83. 


"PENNSYLVANIA  GAZETTE"  FOR  YEAR  1758 

March  16,  1758,  No.  1525,  James  Coultas,  Sheriff,  sells  property 
late  the  estate  of  Isaac  Lincoln  in  the  Northern  Liberties. 

October  5,  1758.  Among  the  representatives  in  the  Assembly 
either  elected  or  already  in :  For  Berks  Co.  inter  alia  Thomas  Lin- 
coln, Benjamin  Boone.1 


Philip  Price  of  Kingssessing  in  his  account  book  12-1 5-1787, 
mentions  Rebecca  Linkhorn  and  her  sister  Ann  Bowman.  Fre- 
quently mentions  Jacob  Linkhorn. 

1  From  notes  of  Wm.  John  Potts  of  Camden,  N.  J.,  to  Gilbert  Cope  (1889  and  1891). 


X 

MISCELLANEOUS   RECORDS 

FROM  A  BOOK  IN  POSSESSION  OF 

HARRISON  H.  LINCOLN 

IN  THE  HANDWRITING  OF  JAMES  BOONE 

Abraham  Lincoln  born  18  October  1736,  7  p.  m.,  died  31  Janu- 
ary 1806 

married  10  July  1760 
Anne  Boone  born  3  April  1737,  5  p.  m.,  died  4  April  1807 

Mary  born  15  September  1761 

Martha  born  25  January  1763 

Mordecai  born  11  January  1765,  died  12  September  1822 

James  born  5  May  1767,  died  i860  aged  93  years  7  months  6 
days 

Anna  born  19  April  1769 

Rachel  born  24  March  1771,  died  19  July  1775 

Phebe  born  22  January  1773 

Anne  born  19  October  1774 

Thomas  born  12  March  1777,  died  29  December  1863 

John  born  21  October  1779,  died  4  April  1864 

Mordecai  Lincoln  son  of  Abraham  and  Anne 

married  5  May  1812,  8  p.  m. 
Julian  Mayberry  born  5  February  1780,  died  6   March  1858  at 
Allentown 
Rachel  born  6  May  18 13 
Ann  born  1  August  18 14,  died  4  August  18 14 
Abraham  M.  born  1  August  18 14,  died  8  August  1 8 1 5 
Margaret  born  21  July  18 17,  died  13  August  1815  [error] 
Margaret  born   12   May  1820,  marr.  Bartholomew  Barto 
7  December  1841 


APPENDIX  175 

Julian  Mayberry  may  have  been  a  widow,  dau.  of  George  &  Mar- 
garet Boone. 

Thomas  Lincoln  son  of  Abraham  and  Anne 

married 
Alice  Dehaven  [daughter]  of  Abraham  born  25  June  1770,  died 
29  December  1836 
Their  daughter  Martha  marr.  Joseph  Kaub,  died  12  October 
1858,  aged  46  years  10  months  20  days.  Grave  is  6th  in  5th 
row,  Exeter. 

John  D.  Lincoln  [son]  of  Thomas  and  Alice  died  June  1895 

married  24  January  1837 
Sarah  Gilbert  daughter  of  Henry  born  4  Jan.  1 8 1 1,  died  1 5  April 
1895 

Amelia  born  28  March  1838 

Alfred  born  21  April  1839 

Harrison  H.  born  28  July  1840 

Elizabeth  born  20  November  1841 

John  born  7  March  1843 

Richard  born  5  December  1844 

Martha  born  12  December  1846 

Anna  born  16  February  1849 

Mary  born  24  April  1852 

Oscar  born  16  February  1855 

David  J.  Lincoln  son  of  James  died  10  April  1886  at  Birdsboro' 

aged  70 
George  Hughes  died  18  August  1795  53rd. 
Martha  widow  of  do.  died  28  May  1798  56th  (dau.  of  James  and 

Mary  Boone) 
Robert  Henton  died  11  November  181 5 
Charity  widow  of  do.  died  4  November  1821 
James  Lewis  Sr  :  died  11  April  1815 
Samuel  Robeson  [son]  of  Moses  died  11  October  1821 
Matthew  Brooke  died  15  October  1821 
Thomas  Lee  died  20  October  1830 
Mary  wife  of  do.  died  19  August  1823  84th  (dau.  James  and  Mary 

Boone) 


176  APPENDIX 

FRIENDS'  MEETING,  EXETER,  PENN.,  RECORDS 

Marriage  of  William  Boone  and  Sarah  Lincoln  reported  orderly 
3-26-1748. 

Ann  Lincoln,  formerly  Boone,  makes  acknowledgment  for  marriage 
out  8-27-1761 : 

Ann  Lincoln  (relict  of  Abraham  Lincoln)  and  Daughter  of  James 
Boone,  Departed  this  life  on  the  4th.  day  of  the  4th.  Mo.  1807, 
Aged  69  years,  11  mo.,  21  d.,  14  h.  10  m.,  and  was  interred  at 
Exeter  on  the  6th.,  ye  2d.  of  the  week.   (Born  2-3-1737.) 

Abraham  Lincoln  died  1  mo.  31,  1806  in  his  70th.  year. 

William  Boone,  son  of  George  and  Deborah,  was  born  9-1 8-1 724. 

William  Boone,  wife  Sarah  and  children  Mordecai,  William,  Mary, 
George,  Thomas,  Jeremiah  and  Hezekiah,  certificate  to  Fairfax 
4-5[?]-i769. 

TALLMAN  FAMILY  BIBLE 

FROM  MISS  MARY  JOSEPHINE  ROE  OF  GILBERT,  OHIO 

Ann  Lincoln,  daughter  of  Mordecai  Lincoln,  was  born  8  March 

1725  and  died  22  December .'  She  married  20  October  174-, 

William  Tallman  who  was  born  in  Rhode  Island  25  March   1720, 
and  died  13  February  1791  in  Rockingham  County,  Virginia. 

Children  of  William  and  Ann  (Lincoln)  Tallman 

Patience  bo.  5  Oct. ,  died  23  February  1761 

Benjamin  bo.  9  Jan.  17 — 
Mary  bo.  22  May  1747,  died  aged  4  years 
Sarah  bo.  19  Dec.  1749,  died  6  Aug.  1770 
Thomas  bo.  1  Sept.  17 — ,  died  15  May  1753 
Mary  bo.  11  Feb.  175-,  died  aged  4  years 
Thomas  bo.  12  May  1757,  died  aged  6  weeks 

William  bo.  —  Sept. ,  died  aged  1 1  months 

Ann  bo.  10  May ,  died  aged  18  months 

Hannah  bo.  —  Sept. ,  died  aged  3  weeks 

Anna  bo.  —  July  176-,  died  aged  15  months 

*  Missing  dates  are  worn  off  the  margin  of  Tallman  Family  Bible. 


APPENDIX  177 

Benjamin  Tallman,  son  of  William  and  Ann  (Lincoln)  Tallman, 
was  born  in  Penna.,  9  Jan.  1745,  and  died  in  Ohio, 4  June  1820.  He 
mar.  9  Nov.  1764,  in  Penna.,  Dinah  Boone,  dau.  of  Benj :  and 
Susannah  Boone  who  was  born  in  Penna.,  10  May  1749  and  died  in 
Ohio,  25  July  1824 

Children  of  Benjamin  and  Dinah  (Boone)  Tallman 

William  bo.  27  Jan.  1766,  died  1850 
Patience  bo.  20  Oct.  1767,  died  21  July  18 16 
Sarah  bo.  11  Apr.  1769,  died  3  June  1844 
James  bo.  8  Apr.  1771,  died  1846 
Samuel  bo.  18  Nov.  1772 
Thomas  bo.  8  July  1774,  died  aged  20  years 
Benjamin  bo.  20  May  1776,  died  same  month 
Annah  bo.  9  May  1777,  died  5  Sept.  1778 
Annah  bo.  15  Dec.  1778,  died  aged  88 
Nancy  bo.  20  May  1781,  died  aged  45 
Susannah  bo.  6  Feb.  1783,  died  aged  42 
Mary  bo.  20  Nov.  1784,  died  1849 
Benjamin  bo.  10  Nov.  1786,  died  about  1833 
John  bo.  10  Aug.  1788,  died  1857 


CHESTER  COUNTY,  PENNSYLVANIA,  TAX  LISTS 

1720      150  acres  surveyed  for  Mordecai  Lincoln  on  French  Creek, 
Oct.  21. 

1720  Mordecay  Lincoln  near  ye  Branches  of  the  fFrench  Creek 

and  Brandywine 

1 72 1  Mordecay  Linerwood,  Skoolkill 

1722  Mordecai  Lincoln,  Nantmeal 

1724  Mordecay  Lincoln,  Coventry 

1725  Mordecay  Lincoln,  Coventry 

1729  Abraham  Lincon  Springfield 

1730  Abraham  Lincon  " 
1732     Abraham  Lincon  " 

1734  Abraham  Lincon  " 

1735  Abraham  Lincon  " 


Tax 

3/ 

cc 

5/ 

cc 

2/6 

cc 

4/4 

tt 

3/ 

11 

14/ 

11 

12/ 

(C 

10/ 

cc 

8/ 

cc 

8/ 

178  APPENDIX 

1737     Abraham  Lincon  Springfield  Tax    7/6 

1739  Abraham  Lingkorn       "  "      7/10 

1740  Abraham  Lincoln  "  "      7/6 

RECORDS  OF  DELAWARE  COUNTY, 
PENNSYLVANIA 

Michael  Lincoln  &  ux.  Rebecca  of  Darby,  14  Dec.  1843  convey  to 
certain  trustees  for  Methodist  Church  purposes  ^  acre  of  land, 
part  of  premises  David  Thomas  &  wife  Hannah  granted  for 
School  purposes  4-2-1735  [?  1835]  &  conveyed  by  School 
Directors  to  Lincoln  4-1 2-1 843. 

Jacob  Lincoln  &  ux.  Eliza  and  Michael  Lincoln  &  ux.  Rebecca  of 
Darby  to  George  Lincoln  July  2,  1835.  Heirs  &  legal  repre- 
sentatives of  Moses  Lincoln,  deed.,  for  Messuage  &  12  acres  in 
Darby,  the  same  conveyed  by  Isaac  Lloyd  &  ux.  Ann,  and 
Hugh  Lloyd  &  ux.  Susanna  to  Moses  Lincoln  Dec.  1,  1786. 

William  Lincoln  &  ux.  Elizabeth  P.  of  Upper  Darby  to  Robert  M. 
Smith,  April  2,  1849,  f°r  messuage  &  21  acres  in  Upper  Darby. 
David  Beaumont  &  ux.  Abigail  to  Jacob  Lincoln  Mar.  27, 
1846,  who  devised  same  to  his  son  William. 

Azariah  Dickinson,  Jerman  Dickinson,  Thomas  Lincoln  &  ux. 
Priscilla,  Joseph  Taylor  &  ux.  Margaret  to  Joseph  Lincoln 
Aug.  17,  1 80 1.  Recites  Lewis  Jerman  &  ux.  Mary  to  Margareta 
Dickinson  Oct.  16,  1769  for  3  acres  in  Radnor  &  died  intest., 
leaving  issue  viz :  Azariah  &  Jerman  Dickinson,  Priscilla  wife  of 
Thomas  Lincoln,  Margaret  wife  of  Joseph  Taylor  &  Elizabeth 
wife  of  Joseph  Lincoln,  conveys  said  land  containing  3^  acres. 

The  sd.  Joseph  Lincoln  died  intest.  leaving  widow  Elizabeth  & 
children,  viz:  —  Margaret  wife  of  Major  McVeagh,  Mary  wife  of 
Jeremiah  Stephens,  John  &  Abel  Lincoln. 

Elizabeth  Lincoln,  Major  McVeagh1  &  ux.  Margaret,  and  Jeremiah 
Stephens  &  ux.  Mary  of  Chester  Co.  and  John  Lincoln  &  ux. 
Francina  K.  and  Abel  Lincoln  of  Cecil  County,  Maryland,  to 
Ann  Siter  of  Radnor,  June  18,  1825  for  the  above  named  2% 
acres. 

1  Father  of  Wayne  McVeagh  (?). 


APPENDIX 


179 


In  Orphans'  Court,  Sept.  24,  1856.  Petition  of  Elizabeth  P.  Lin- 
coln, widow  &  administratrix  of  William  Lincoln,  sets  forth  that  said 
Wm.  Lincoln  died  intestate,  leaving  no  issue  and  as  next  of  kin  his 
mother  Eliza  Lincoln,  now  wife  of  Anthony  J.  Jordan,  George  Lin- 
coln, an  uncle,  and  the  children  of  Michael  Lincoln,  a  deceased  uncle, 
viz:  Isaac  &  Jacob  Lincoln,  Anna  Eliza,  wife  of  Daniel  Trites, 
Rebecca,  wife  of  James  Hutchinson,  and  Elizabeth  Lincoln  a  minor 
under  21  ;  asks  for  order  of  sale,  etc. 


LEASE  AND  RELEASE  January  15  and  16,  1729-30.  Tho- 
mas Williams  of  Freehold,  New  Jersey,  Monmouth  County,  yeo- 
man, to  Abraham  Lincon  of  Springfield  in  the  County  of  Chester, 
in  Pennsylvania,  yeoman,  of  300  acres  in  Springfield  for  £320 
(now  Delaware  County,  Pa.).   \_Recorded  11  August,  1785,  Book  Z, 

P*g*  336-] 

This  was  purchased  by  Williams  17  and  18  November,  1729,  from 

heirs  of  Isaac  Taylor.    \_B00k  Z,  page  339.] 

Abraham  Lincoln  devised  the  land  to  son  John  and  if  he  died 
then  to  son  Abraham.  The  latter  did  inherit  and  devised  to  daughters 
Rebecca  and  Hester,  of  whom  the  latter  died  young  and  the  other 
married  James  Carter  of  Philadelphia,  merchant,  who  sold  143  acres 
to  Abraham  Garrett  in  1772.    \_B00k  X,  page  114.] 

[Note  from  Gilbert  Cope  dated  1 2-4-1 886.] 

of 

DEED  13  April,  1772,  James  Carter  and- City  of  Phila.,  merchant, 
&  Rebecca  his  wife  to  Abraham  Garrett  of  Goshen,  yeoman. 

Recites  title  from  Robert  Taylor  to  son  Isaac,  whose  heirs  sell  to 
Thomas  Williams,  who  sells  to  Abraham  Lincon  of  Springfield  the 
said  300  acres.  Abraham  devised  a  part  of  said  land  to  son  John,  but 
if  the  latter  died  in  his  minority,  it  was  to  go  to  Abraham,  another 
son. 

John  did  dieand  Abraham  inherited,  who,  by  will  dated  17  February, 
1747,  directed  that  the  plantation  should  be  equally  divided  between 
his  two  children,  Rebecca  Lincon  and  Hester  Lincon,  when  they  be- 
came of  age.  (Will  registered  at  Philadelphia.)  Hester  died  in  her 
minority  and  without  issue  and  her  share  descended  to  Rebecca. 


180  APPENDIX 

James  Carter  and  wife  Rebecca  for  £600  convey  the  land,  143^ 
acres  26  perches,  in  Springfield.    [Book  X,  page  114.] 

[Filed  in  Dept.  of  Internal  Affairs  of  Penn.  at  Harrisonburg.^ 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents  that  I  Mordecai  Lincoln  of  Cov- 
entry in  the  County  of  Chester,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum 
of  ^500  etc.,  do  forever  quitclaim  to  William  Branson,  Merchant, 
of  Philadelphia,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  one  full  and  undivided  third 
part  of  the  one  hundred  and  six  acres  of  land,  according  to  articles  of 
agreement  made  between  Samuel  Nutt  of  the  one  part  and  the  said 
Mordecai  Lincoln  of  the  other  part,  together  with  all  and  singular 
the  Mynes  and  Minerals,  Forges,  Buildings,  Houses,  Lands  and  Im- 
provements whatsoever  thereunto  belonging.  Dated  14  December, 
1725.   Signed,  sealed  and  delivered 

(Signed)     Mordecai  Lincoln  [6V#/] 

in  presence  of 

Jn°  Robeson 
Jane  Speary 

[Recorded  at  Trenton,  N.  J.~\ 

DEED  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  blacksmith,  of  Monmouth  County, 
Province  of  New  Jersey,  dated  20  February,  1737,  conveys  to 
Thomas  Williams  240  acres  of  land  near  Crosswick  in  the  County 
aforesaid,  being  the  same  granted  to  him  from  Safety  Boyden  by 
Deed  11  February,  1722,  and  also  200  acres  conveyed  to  him  from 
Abraham  Vanhorn,  15  March,  1725.  The  consideration  for  both  lots 
being  £590  and,  every  year  thereafter,  forever,  upon  the  feast  of  St. 
Michael  the  Archangel,  one  penny  of  good  and  lawful  money. 

\Pbila.  Ad.  Book  H,  page  73,  No.  70.] 

Mem0:  That  on  the  17th  day  of  February  1770,  Administration 
of  the  Estate  of  Joseph  Millard  deceased,  was  granted  to  Mary 
Millard,  Inventory  to  be  Exhibited  on  or  before  the  17th  day  of 
March  next  and  an  account  on  or  before  the  1 8th  day  of  February 
1 77 1.  Given  under  the  Seal  of  the  Register  General's  Office  at 
Philadelphia 

Pr.  Benjamin  Chew  Regr  Gene1' 


APPENDIX  181 

\Phila.  Deed  Book  Dt,,  page  136.] 

Mary  Rodgers  of  Exeter  in  the  County  of  Philadelphia,  executrix 
of  Mordecai  Lincon  her  deceased  husband,  appoints  her  son-in-law 
William  Tallman  of  Amity  Township  her  attorney  to  sell  100  acres 
on  Matjaponia  in  East  Jersey.  Acknowledged  before  George  Boone 
Jan.  17,  1742. 

(Signed)     Mary  Rogers. 

Witness  Roger  Rogers 

\Phila.  Deed  Book  D$,  page  146.] 

DEED  of  William  Talman  and  wife  Anne,  of  Amity  Township, 
Phila.  County,  to  James  Abraham  of  Perth  Amboy,  for  ^40,  100 
acres  land  at  Macheponix,  County  of  Middlesex,  East  Jersey. 

{Signed)      William  and  Ann  Talman. 


\ 


XI 
DEEDS 

\Reading,  Book  \,  page  535].1 

This  Indenture  made  the  29th  day  of  March  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1773  between  Mordecai  Lincoln  of  Exeter  Township  in  Berks 
County  and  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  Yeoman,  and  Mary  his  wife  of 
the  one  part  &  Mary  Rogers  of  the  town  of  Reading  in  the  County 
and  Province  aforesaid,  widow,  of  the  other  part.  Whereas  by  certain 
Indentures  of  lease  and  release  dated  the  19  and  20  days  of  February 
1 7 1 8,  made  between  Tobias  Collet,  Citizen  and  Haberdasher  of  Lon- 
don, Daniel  Quain  of  London  and  Henry  Goldney  of  London,  linen 
draper,  of  the  one  part  &  Andrew  Robeson  then  of  Roxboro  in  the 
County  of  Philadelphia,  Yeoman,  of  the  other  part.  That  the  said 
Tobias  Collet,  Daniel  Quain  and  Henry  Goldny  for  ye  consideration 
in  the  said  Indenture  mentioned,  granted  and  confirmed  unto  the  said 
Andrew  Robeson  a  certain  tract  of  land  lying  on  the  east  side  of  ye 
River  Schuylkill  then  in  Philadelphia  County  but  now  in  Berks 
County  aforesaid  Bounded  and  described  as  follows  [description]  and 
a  certain  tract  of  600  acres  on  ye  west  side  of  ye  Schuylkill  river,  the 
said  two  tracts  to  be  holden  by  ye  said  Andrew  Robeson  his  heirs  and 
assigns  under  the  yearly  quit  rent  of  one  beaver  skin  on  the  first  day 
of  March  as  by  ye  said  recorded  Indenture  in  Book  ff.  Vol.  4  page 
118  may  at  large  appear  —  And  the  said  Andrew  Robeson  being 
so  seized  of  the  said  premises  dyed,  did  by  his  last  will  and  testament 
bearing  date  the  day  of  Anno  17 19,  give  unto  his  third 

son  Jonathan  Robeson  the  above  described  1000  acres  of  land  with 
the  appurtenances  and  Whereas  Andrew  Robeson  eldest  son  and  heir 
at  law  of  said  Andrew  Robeson  the  testator  and  by  a  Deed  Poll  under 
his  hand  and  seal  duly  executed  for  ye  consideration  therein  men- 
tioned did  grant  release  quit  claim  and  confirm  to  the  said  Jonathan 
Robeson  all  the  said  1000  acres  of  land  with  the  appurtenances  to  hold 
to  him  the  said  Jonathan  Robeson  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as 
by  the  said  recited  Deed,  dated  ye  10th  day  of  January  1726,  may 
appear.    And  whereas  by  certain  Indentures  of  Lease  and   Release 

1  Extracted  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Early  of  Reading. 


APPENDIX  183 

Tripartite  made  between  Jonathan  Robeson  and  Elizabeth  his  wife 
of  the  one  part,  Mordecai  Lincoln  of  the  second  part  (the  said  Jona- 
than Robeson  having  some  time  before  sold  the  above  described  tract 
of  1000  acres  of  land  to  ye  said  Mordecai  Lincoln,  father  to  Mor- 
decai Lincoln,  party  hereto,  but  no  writing  was  made  to  him,  the  said 
Jonathan  Robeson,  to  convey  the  same)  and  Thomas  Millard  of  the 
third  part.  The  said  Jonathan  Robeson  &  Elizabeth  his  wife  and 
Mordecai  Lincoln  the  father  by  the  said  Indenture  dated  ye  6  and 
7  davs  of  October  1729,  for  the  consideration  therein  mentioned 
did  grant  and  confirm  the  said  1000  acres  of  land  to  the  said  Thomas 
Millard  in  Fee.  And  the  said  Thomas  Millard  &  Barbara  his  wife 
by  Indentures  of  Lease  and  Release  bearing  date  the  9  and  10  of  May 
a.  d.  1730,  did  grant  and  confirm  the  same  1000  acres  of  land  and 
premises  unto  the  said  Mordecai  Lincoln  the  Elder  in  Fee,  he  being 
so  seized  thereof  dyed,  who  by  his  last  Will  and  Testament  dated 
22nd.  day  of  February  1735  did  give  and  bequeath  unto  his  son 
Mordecai  Lincoln,  party  hereto,  one  third  part  of  said  1000  acres  of 
land  to  be  struck  off  the  east  end  or  side  of  the  said  described  1000 
acres  of  land  which  hath  since  been  amicably  done,  to  hold  to  him  the 
said  Mordecai  Lincoln,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as  in  and  by  the 
said  in  part  recited  Will  registered  in  the  Register's  Office  at  Philadel- 
phia June  7,  A.  d.  1 73 1,  reference  being  thereunto  had  as  may  at  large 
appear.  Now  this  Indenture  witnesseth  that  the  said  Mordecai  Lin- 
coln and  Mary  his  wife  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  ^50 
Lawful  money  of  Pennsylvania  to  them  in  hand  paid  by  the  said  Mary 
Rogers  the  receipt  whereof  etc.  etc.  bargain  sell  alien  release  and  con- 
firm unto  the  said  Mary  Rogers  and  her  heirs  and  assigns  a  certain  piece 
or  part  of  the  above  mentioned  third  part  of  the  above  described  1000 
acres  bounded  and  described  as  follows  —  Beginning  at  a  post  set  for 
a  corner  in  a  line  of  said  Mordecai  Lincoln's  land  and  a  line  of  land  of 
the  late  Thomas  Lincoln,  but  now  Michael  Ziester's,  containing  one 
acre  of  land  with  outhouse  and  outbuildings  improvements  water- 
courses etc.  unto  the  said  Mary  Rogers  her  heirs  and  assigns  etc. 

{Signed)        Mordecai  Lincoln         [<SVtf/] 
Mary  Lincoln    her  mark  M 

The  year  and  day  first  above  written 
in  the  presence  of 

Rebecca  Nagel 

Henry  Christ. 


1 84  APPENDIX 

Before  me  the  subscriber,  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  and 
for  the  said  County,  on  the  29  day  of  March  1773  came  the  within 
named  Mordecai  Lincoln  and  Mary  his  wife  and  acknowledged  the 
within  Indenture. 

{Signed)     Henry  Christ. 

In  immediate  connection  follows  this  :  — 

Indentured  to  Thomas  Lincoln  in  payment  of  ^40  to  Mary 
Rogers,  May  4th.  1774.  Witnesses  William  Tallum  and  H.  Christ. 
Compared  May  18th  1774. 

Then  follows  this:  — 

This  Indenture  made  the  3rd  day  of  May  1779  between  Mary 
Rogers  administratrix  of  all  and  singular  the  goods  and  chattels  rights 
and  credits  which  were  of  Thomas  Lincoln  late  of  the  town  of  Read- 
ing in  the  County  of  Berks,  yeoman  deceased,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
who  died  intestate,  of  the  one  part  and  Henry  Vanderslice  of  the  same 
place,  Esquire,  of  the  other  part  —  Whereas  Mordecai  Lincoln  and 
Mary  his  wife  by  Indenture  under  their  hands  and  seals  Dated  March 
29  1773  reciting  etc.,  did  confirm  unto  the  said  Mary  Rogers  or  her 
heirs  and  assigns  a  certain  piece  or  parcel  of  land  situate  in  the  Town- 
ship of  Exeter  in  the  County  of  Berks  aforesaid,  bounded  and  de- 
scribed as  follows  [same  as  in  first  deed~\  Whereas  the  said  Mary 
Rogers  by  Indenture  dated  May  4th  1774,  did  grant  etc.  to  Thomas 
Lincoln  (in  his  life  time)  [Recorded  in  Book  1,  page  53$,  Reading^] 
Upon  her  Petition  an  order  of  sale  granted  June  10,  1776  "for  pay- 
ment of  debts,  maintenance  &  education  of  the  younger  children  of 
said  intestate  granted  to  sell  at  public  vendue"  —  Sold  the  same  to 
Henry  Vanderslice  for  ^3  1  lawful  money  of  Pennsylvania.  Reported 
to  Court  and  confirmed  April  1st.  last  past  subject  to  a  yearly  quit- 
rent  as  mentioned  in  the  first  Deed 

(Signed)     Mary  Rogers 

Sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence 
of  Henry  Christ       J.  P. 

Wit. :  —  Colinson  Read 

Acknowledged  May  4,  1779 

Recorded  and  compared  July  8,  1779 

Know  all  men  that  I  Henry  Vanderslice  in  consideration  of  £$o 
lawful  money  of  Pennsylvania  to  me  paid  by  Mary  Rogers  grant 


APPENDIX  185 

to  her,  her  heirs  and  assigns  etc.  the  one  acre  etc.  dated  May  4th 

1779. 

{Signed)     Henry  Vanderslice. 

Wit. :  —  Henry  Christ 
Collinson  Read 
Acknowledged  May  4th  1 779 
Recorded  and  compared  July  8,  1779. 

This  indenture  made  the  seventh  day  of  August  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  three  Between  John 
Lincoln  of  the  County  of  Augusta  and  Colony  of  Virginia  of  the 
one  Part  and  Abraham  Lincoln  of  the  County  of  Augusta  and  Colony 
aforesaid  of  the  other  part  witnesseth  that  the  said  John  Lincoln  for 
and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  five  Shillings  Current  Money  of 
Virginia  to  him  in  hand  paid  by  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln  at  or  be- 
fore the  Sealing  and  Delivering  of  these  Presents  the  Receipt  whereof 
he  doth  hereby  Acknowledge  hath  Granted  Bargained  and  Sold  and 
By  these  Presents  doth  Grant  Bargain  and  Sell  unto  the  said  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  and  to  his  heirs  one  Certain  Tract  or  Parcel  of  land 
Containing  two  Hundred  and  ten  acres  Lying  and  being  in  the 
County  of  Augusta  on  linvel's  Creek  Being  Part  of  1200  acres 
Granted  to  Mckay  Duff  Green  &  Hite  by  Patent  bearing  date  the 
26th  day  of  March  1739  and  was  by  them  Conveyed  to  Robert 
MacKay  by  deed  of  lease  and  release  bearing  date  the  19th  and 
20th  days  of  June  1746  and  Recorded  in  the  County  Court  of  Au- 
gusta and  was  by  the  said  Robert  Mckay  Devised  to  Zachariah 
Mckay  Moses  Mckay  Robert  Mckay  and  James  Mckay  by  his  last 
Will  and  Testament  dated  the  7th  day  of  October  1746  and  Re- 
corded in  the  County  Court  of  Augusta.  And  Six  Hundred  acres  part 
of  the  Twelve  hundred  acres  was  conveyed  by  the  said  Zachariah 
McKay  Moses  McKay  Robt  McKay  and  James  McKay  unto  the 
said  John  Lincoln  by  deeds  of  lease  and  release  bearing  date  the  21st 
and  22nd  days  of  June  1768  and  Recorded  in  the  County  Court  of 
Augusta  and  bounded  as  follows,  to  wit:  Beginning  at  a  white  oak 
in  the  line  of  the  Original  Grant  on  the  west  side  of  Linvel's  Creek 
&  a  line  of  the  same  south  31  degrees  and  81  poles  to  two  Black 
oaks  south  65  p.  East  384  Poles  to  the  Creek  Near  a  Sycamore  & 
thorn  by  said  Creek  thence  down  with  the  same  North  10  east  17 
Poles  &  North  60  east  30  poles  to  a  walnut  corner  of  Isaac  Lin- 


186  APPENDIX 

coin's  North  54  west  240  Poles  to  two  small  black  oaks  thence  North 
31  east  16  poles  to  a  white  oak  and  Black  oaks  on  the  old  line  with 
the  same  North  65  p  West  130  Poles  to  the  beginning  Corner  and 
all  houses  Buildings  and  orchard  ways  Waters  Water-Courses  Profits 
Commodities  Hereditaments  and  Appurtenances  whatsoever  to  the 
said  Premises  hereby  granted  or  any  part  thereof  Belonging  or  in  any 
wise  appertaining  and  the  reversion  and  reversions,  remainder  and  re- 
mainders Rents  Issues  and  Profits  thereof  To  have  and  to  hold  the 
lands  hereby  conveyed  and  all  and  singular  other  the  Premises  hereby 
Granted  with  the  Appurtenances  unto  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln, 
his  Executors,  Administrators  and  Assigns  from  the  day  before  the 
date  hereof  for  and  during  the  full  Term  and  Time  of  one  whole 
year  from  thence  next  ensuing  fully  to  be  Compleat  and  ended  Yield- 
ing and  Paying  therefor  the  rent  of  One  Pepper  Corn  on  Lady  Day 
next  if  the  Same  Shall  be  lawfully  Demanded  to  the  Intent  and  Pur- 
pose that  by  Virtue  of  these  Presents  and  of  the  Statute  for  Trans- 
ferring Uses  into  Possession  the  Said  Abraham  Lincoln  may  be  in 
Actual  Possession  of  the  Premises  and  be  thereby  enabled  to  Accept 
and  take  a  Grant  and  Release  of  the  reversion  and  Inheritence  thereof 
to  him  and  his  heirs.  In  witness  whereof  the  said  John  Lincoln  hath 
hereunto  set  his  hand  and  Seal  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

John  Lincoln  [6>#/] 

Signed  sealed  and  delivered  in  the  her 

presence  of  ReBECKAH   R  LlNCOLN    [«SW] 

Josiah  Davidson  mar'c 

his 
Cornelius  B  Briant 
mark 
her 

Ann  B  Briant 

mark 

This  was  followed,  12  August,  1773,  by  Deed  of  Release  from 
same  John  and  Rebecca  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  above. 

COUNTY  COURT  OF  AUGUSTA  COUNTY,  VIRGINIA 

DEED  of  John  Lincoln  of  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  to  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  of  210  acres  of  land  for  five  shillings  current  money 
of  Virginia,  dated  7  August,  1773. 


APPENDIX  187 

LEASE  from  John  Lincoln  of  Augusta  County  to  Isaac  Lin- 
coln of  same  for  215  acres  of  land  for  five  shillings  current  money, 
dated  11  August,  1773. 

DEED  of  John  Lincoln  and  Rebecca  his  wife,  of  land  sold 
to  Abraham  Lincoln,  (as  above,)  dated  12,  August,  1773. 

RELEASE  from  John  Lincoln  and  Rebecca  his  wife,  of  land 
to  Isaac  Lincoln,  (as  above,)  dated  12  August,  1773. 

The  above  Deeds,  all  that  could  be  found  in  this  Court,  were  noted  as  above  by  Miss 
Frances  Trumbull  Lea  from  the  Original  Records.  The  dates  as  given  are  the  correct 
ones  ;  compare  Century  Mag.,  March,  1 887,  vol.  xxxiii,  pp.  810-811. 

Extracted  19  July,  1908. 


DEED   OF  ABRAHAM  AND   BATHSHEBA  LINCOLN 

This  Indenture  made  the  Eightenth  day  of  Feberuary  in  the 
Year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  and  seven  hundred  and  Eighty  Be- 
tween Abraham  Lincoln  of  the  County  of  Rockingham  and  State 
of  Virginia  and  Bershaba  his  wife  of  the  one  part  and  Abraham  Bran- 
nem  Henry  \_sic~\  Michal  Shanks  and  John  Reuf  of  the  County  and 
State  aforesaid  of  the  other  part  witnesseth  that  for  and  in  consid- 
eration of  the  sum  of  five  Thousand  Pounds  current  money  of  Virginia 
in  hand  paid  unto  the  said  Abm  Lincoln  By  the  said  Abm  Bran- 
mzn-. Henry  \jic~\  Michal  Shanks  -and  John— R^uf  [sic~\  at  or  before 
the  sealing  and  Delivery  of  these  presents  the  Receipt  whereof  they 
doth  hereby  acknowledge  and  thereof  doth  Release  acquit  and  Dis- 
charge the  said  A-bm-B^a-nman  Michal  Shanks  and  John  Reuf  his 
heirs  and  assigns  by  these  presents  he  the  said  Abm  Lincoln  hath 
granted  Bargained  sold  Aliened  and  Confirmed  and  by  these  presents 
doth  Bargain  sell  alien  and  Confirm  unto  the  said  Braneman-  Shanks 
-afid-Re-a-f  and  theire  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever  on  certain  Tract  of  land 
containing  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  Being  apart  of  tvvele  hundred 
acres  granted  to  McKay  Duff  Green  and  Hite  By  patent  bearing 
Date  the  twenty  sixe  dayes  of  March  1739  and  by  them  conveyed 
to  Robert  McKay  by  Deed  of  Lease  and  Release  bearing  date  the 
Nineteenth  and  twentieth  Dayes  of  June  1746  and  by  the  said  Robert 


188  APPENDIX 

McKay  Devised  to  the  aforesaid  Zachariah  McKay  Moses  McKay 
Robert  McKay  and  the  aforesaid  McKayes  conveyed  to  John  Lin- 
coln six  hundred  acres  of  the  aforsaid  land  by  Deed  of  Lease  and 
Release  bearing  Date  the  twenty  second  day  of  June  1768  and  John 
Lincoln  conveyed  apart  of  this  within  mentioned  two  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  to  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Tunis  Vanpelt  Thos.  Bryan  and 
Holton  Muncey  conveyed  the  rest  the  said  land  to  Abram  Lincoln 
lying  and  being  on  the  North  side  of  Linvils  Creek  Beginning  at  a 
locust  stake  and  walnut  stump  on  the  North  side  of  Linvils  Creek 
thence  along  the  old  line  South  thirty  seven  Degrees  West  seventy 
eight  Poles  to  a  black  oak  corner  to  Tunis  Vanpelt  North  fifty  five 
and  a  half  Degrees  West  one  hundred  and  twenty  four  poles  to  a  white 
oak  on  said  line:  South  forty  two  Degrees  West  one  hundred  and 
four  Poles  to  a  whit  oak  South  East  thirty  Poles  to  a  white  oak  and 
two  sapplins  North  seventy  six  Degrees  East  seventy  six  Poles  near 
to  a  white  oak  South  twenty  five  Degrees  East  forty  one  Poles  to  a 
locust  stake  North  thirty  six  Degrees  East  fifty  Eight  Poles  to  two 
smal  Hickorys  South  fifty  five  x/2  Degrees  East  one  Hundred  and 
Thirty  six  poles  to  the  Creek  near  sycamore  and  thorn  thence  down 
the  Creek  the  several  courses  to  a  walnut  to  his  br  Isaacs  line  North 
fifty  four  Degrees  West  two  hundred  and  forty  poles  to  two  small 
white  oak  North  thirty  one  Degrees  East  sixteen  poles  to  a  black 

oak  saplin  on  the  old  line 

with  all  the  Houses  Buildings  Orchards  Ways  Water  Water  courses 
Profits  commodities  hereditaments  and  appurtenances  whatsoever  to 
the  said  Premises  hereby  granted  or  in  any  part  thereof  Belonging  or 
in  any  wise  appertaining  and  the  Reversion  and  Reversions  Remainder 
and  Remainders  Rents  Issues  &  Profits  thereof  and  also  all  the 
Estate  Right  Title  use  Trust  Property  or  claim  or  Demand  whatso- 
ever of  him  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln  of  In  and  to  the  said  Prem- 
ises and  all  Deeds  evidences  and  Writings  Touching  or  in  any  wise 
concerning  the  same  to  have  and  to  hold  the  land  hereby  conveyed 
and  all  and  singular  other  the  premises  hereby  Bargained  and  sold 
and  every  part  and  parcel  thereof  with  their  and  Every  of  their  ap- 
purtenances unto  the  said  Abm  Bran  man  H-enry  [sic]  Michal  Shanks 
2nd  John  Reuf  their  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever  to  the  only  proper 
use  and  Behoof  of  them  the  said  -Breneman  Michal  Shanks  and  Reuf 
and  of  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever  and  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln 


APPENDIX  189 

and  Bashaba  his  weif  for  themselves  theire  Heirs  and  Assigns  by 
these  Presents  Abm  Lincoln  and  his  weife  at  the 

time  of  the  sealing  and  Delivery  of  these  Presents  is  seized  of  a 
good  sure  perfect  and  Indefeasable  Estate  of  inheritance  In  fee  simple 
of  and  In  the  said  premises  Hereby  Granted  and  he  Hath  good 
Power  and  lawful  and  absolute  right  and  authority  to  grant  and  con- 
vey the  same  to  the  said  Abm  Braneman-  Michael  Shanks  44-en-r-y 
•Shanks-a-nd  John  Reuf  in  manner  and  form  aforesaid  and  that  the 
premises  now  are  and  so  for  ever  here  after  shall  remain  and  be  free 
and  Clear  of  and  from  all  former  and  other  Gifts  Grants  Bargains 
Sales  rights  and  titles  of  Dowers  Dower  Judgments  executions  Titles 
Troubles  charges  and  Incumbrances  whatsoever  made  done  Com- 
mitted or  suffered  by  the  said  Abm  Lincoln  and  Bathsheba  his  wife 
or  any  other  person  or  persons  whatsoever  the  assessments  hereafter 
to  grow  due  and  payable  to  the  Collector  for  the  time  being  for  the 
use  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  for  and  in  respect  of  the  said 
Premises  only  Excepted  and  for  prized  and  the  said  Abm  Lincoln 
and  Bathsheba  his  wife  and  there  Heirs  all  and  singular  the  Premises 
hereby  granted  with  the  appurtenances  unto  the  said  Abm  Braneman 
Michal  Shanks -and-John  Reuf  His  heirs  and  assigns  against  them  the 
said  Abm  Lincoln  and  Bathshaba  his  wife  and  their  heirs  and  all  and 
every  other  Person  Persons  whatsoever  shall  and  will  Warrant  and 
for  Ever  Defend  by  these  Presents  and  Lastly  that  the  said  Abm 
Lincoln  and  Bathshabe  his  wife  and  there  heirs  and  Every  other 
Person  or  Persons  and  theire  Heirs  any  thing  having  and  claiming 
In  the  Premises  herein  before  mentioned  or  intended  to  be  hereby 
Bargained  and  sold  shall  and  will  from  time  to  time  and  at  all  times 
hearafter  at  the  reasonable  Request  and  at  the  proper  cost  and  charges 
in  the  Law  of  them  the  said  -Breneman-  Shanks  -and  Reuf  his  heirs 
or  assigns  make  do  and  Execute  or  Promise  to  be  made  done  and 
Executed  all  and  every  such  further  and  other  Reasonable  act  and 
acts  thing  or  things  Conveyances  and  assurances  for  thare  further 
Better  and  more  Effectual  Conveying  and  assuring  the  Premises 
aforesaid  with  their  and  every  of  their  appurtenances  unto  the  said 
Abraham  Branirnan— Henry  Michal  Shanks  and  John  Reuf  his  [altered 
from  their]  Heirs  and  assigns  as  by  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln  his 
heirs  or  assigns  or  their  Counsels  Learned  In  the  Law  shall  be  Rea- 
sonable advised  Devised  or  Required.   In  Witness  Whereof  the  said 


190  APPENDIX 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  Bathsheba  his  wife  Hath  Hereunto  set  theire 
hands  and  seals  the  Day  &  Year  first  above  written 

Abrm  Lincoln  [*SV#/] 

Batsab  Lincon  [Seal] 

Signed  and  Delivered 
In  Presence  of 
Charles  Mair 
Solomon  Mathews 
George  Chrisman 

At  a  Court  held  for  Rockingham  County  the  26th  day  of  June 

1780.    This  Deed  of  Bargain  &  Sale  from  Abraham  Lincoln  &  Ber- 

sheba  his  wife  to  Michal  Shanks  was  proved  by  the  Oath  of  Charles 

Maier  &  George  Chrisman  &  by  the  Solemn  Affermation  of  Salomon 

Mathews  the  witnesses  thereto  and  ordered  to  be  recorded  by  the 

Court 

Petr  Hog  C.  R.  C. 

Rockingham  County  to  wit:  — 

The  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  to  Daniel  Smith  Thomas  Hewit 
and  Henry  Ewing  Gentelmen  Greeting  Whereas  Abram  Lincoln  and 
Barbara  his  wife  by  their  certain  Indenture  of  Lease  and  Release 
[sic]  Bargain  and  Sale  bearing  date  the  18  Day  of  February  1780 
for  the  Consederation  therein  mentioned  did  give,  grant  bargain  sell 
aliene  release  &  Confirm  unto  Michael  Shanks  a  certain  tract  of  land 
containing  50  acres  and  whereas  Barbara  the  wife  of  the  sd  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  unable  to  travel  to  our  sd.  County  Court  of  Rockingham 
to  be  privately  examined  apart  from  her  said  husband  whether  she  is 
willing  to  relinquish  her  right  of  Dower  to  the  land  in  the  said  Deed 
mentioned  as  the  Law  in  that  case  directs.  Therefore  Know  ye  that 
we  give  power  and  authority  to  you  the  said  Danl  Smith  Tho.  Hewet 
&  Henry  Ewing  to  go  to  the  House  of  the  sd.  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
there  to  examine  the  sd.  Barbara  privately  &  apart  from  her  said  hus- 
band, whether  she  is  willing  to  relinquish  her  right  of  Dower  to  the 
land  in  the  said  Deed  mentioned  &  whether  she  doth  the  same  of  her 
own  free  will  without  any  force  threats,  or  compulsion  of  her  said  hus- 
band &  whether  she  be  willing  that  her  acknowledgment  shall  be  re- 
corded with  the  said  Deeds  and  that  you  certify  the  same  distinctly 
to  the  Justices  of  our  said  County  Court  of  Rockingham  and  that  you 


APPENDIX  191 

have  there  the  said  Deed  together  with  this  writ,  which  we  send  you. 
Witness  Peter  Hog  Clerk  of  our  sd.  Court  at  the  Court  ho.  the  8th. 
Day  of  Sept.  1781  in  the  sixth  year  of  the  Commonwealth 

Petr  Hog. 

By  Virtue  of  the  within  writ  to  us  —  Thos.  Hewit  &  Henry  Ewing 
directed  we  did  personally  on  the  24  Day  of  Septr.  1781  go  to  the 
house  of  the  within  named  Abraham  Lincoln  and  did  there  privately 
and  apart  from  her  husband  Abr  Lincoln  [sic]  examine  Barshaba  his 
wife  whether  she  was  willing  to  relinquish  her  right  of  Dower  to  the 
Land  sold  by  her  said  husband  to  Michael  Shanks  who  declared  & 
acknowledged  that  she  freely  &  voluntarily  relinquished  the  same 
without  the  Force  threats  or  Compulsion  of  her  said  husband,  and 
that  she  desired  the  said  Deeds  together  with  this  relinquishment 
of  Dower  by  her  made  should  be  recorded  in  the  County  Court  of 
Rockingham  All  which  we  do  hereby  certify  to  the  Justice  of  the 
said  County  Court.  Given  under  our  hands  &  Seals  this  24  Day  of 
Septr  1 78 1 

Thos.  Hewit     [6V#/] 
Henry  Ewin      [6V#/] 

At  a  Court  held  for  Rockingham  County  the  24  Day  of  Septem- 
ber 1 78 1  This  Commission  with  the  privy  Examination  of  Bershebe 
the  wife  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  returned  &  ordered  to  be  recorded 

by  the  Court 

Petr  Hog,  C.  R.  C. 

A  Copy  from  Original  Deed. 
Teste, 

D.  H.  Lee  Martz,  Clerk. 
12  August,  1908. 

SHIPLEY  DEEDS 

DEED  from  "Thomas  Dougherty  of  the  County  of  Charlotte  " 
to  "Robert  Shipley  Jur.  of  the  County  of  Bedford,"  dated  10th 
May,  1769,  witnessed  by  John  Irvin,  Abraham  Irvin,  Michael  Pre- 
wit,  James  Pruit,  and  Thos.  Watkins,  and  recorded  July  27th,  1769, 
in  Deed-Book  "  C,"  pages  350-351,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  late 
County  Court  of  Bedford  County,  conveys  "  one  certain  track  or 


192  APPENDIX 

parcel  of  Land  situate  lying  and  being  in  the  County  of  Bedford  on 
both  sides  of  falling  River  and  on  the  Lower  side  of  Little  falling 
River  and  bounded  as  followeth  "  \_H ere  follow  the  courses  and  dis- 
tances^ "  containing  by  estimation  two  hundred  and  sixty  two  acres 
be  the  same  more  or  less." 

DEED  from  "Thomas  Dougherty  of  the  County  of  Charlotte" 
to  "Edward  Shipley  of  the  County  of  Bedford,"  dated  ioth  May, 
1769,  witnessed  by  John  Irvin,  Abraham  Irvin,  Michael  Pruit,  James 
Pruit,  and  Thos.  Watkins,  and  recorded  July  27  th,  1769,  in  Deed-Book 
"  C,"  pages  351-353,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  late  County  Court 
of  Bedford  County,  Virginia,  conveys  "  one  certain  track  or  parcel  of 
Land  containing  by  estimation  nine  hundred  acres  be  the  same  more 
or  less  Lying  and  being  in  the  County  of  Bedford  on  both  sides  of 
Phelps'  creek  and  bounded  as  followeth  "  [Here  follow  the  courses  and 
distances'] . 

DEED  from  "Robert  Shipley  Jun.  of  the  County  of  Bedford" 
to  "  Samuel  Walker  of  the  same  County,"  dated  14th  August,  1772, 
witnessed  by  Thomas  Watkins,  Samuel  Walker,  William  Walker, 
and  Samuel  Clay  tor,  and  recorded  August  24th,  1772,  in  Deed-Book 
"  D,"  pages  376,  377,  378,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  late  County 
Court  of  Bedford  County,  Virginia,  "  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of 
five  Pounds  three  shillings  and  six  Pence  current  money  of  Vir- 
ginia," conveys  "one  certain  Parcel  or  Dividend  of  Land  containing 
Thirty  acres  by  estimation,  be  the  same  more  or  less  lying  and  be- 
ing in  the  County  of  Bedford  on  the  North  branches  of  falling  River 
adjoining  to  the  said  Walkers  lines  and  is  bounded  as  followeth  " 
\_H  ere  follow  the  courses  and  distances'],"  the  same  being  a  part  of 
two  hundred  and  sixty  two  acres  granted  to  Thomas  Daugherty  by 
Pattent  bearing  date  at  Williamsburgh  the  fifth  day  of  June  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty  five  and  by  him  conveyed  to  the 
aforesaid  Robert  Shipley." 

DEED  from  "Robert  Shepley  of  Bedford  County  and  Collony 
of  Virginia"  to  "Thomas  Marshall  of  the  County  of  Charlotte  & 
Collony  afforesaid  "  [Note  —  This  Deed  is  also  signed  by  "  Rachel 
Shepley"]  —  dated  2  2d  August,  1777,  witnessed  by  William  Mason, 


APPENDIX  193 

Richard  Womack,  James  Pruett,  and  William  Marshall,  and  recorded 
February  23d,  1778,  in  Deed-Book  "  F,"  pages  69-70,  in  the  Clerk's 
Office  of  the  late  County  Court  of  Bedford  County,  "in  considera- 
tion of  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds,"  conveys  "one  certain  Tract  or 
parcel  of  Land  containing  Two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  situate  and 
lying  in  the  sd.  Bedford  County  on  both  sides  of  Phelpeses  Creek" 
[General  description  of  the  tract  given  in  deed,  but  not  the  courses  and 
distances] . 

DEED  from  "  Robert  Shipley  of  Russel  parrish  and  County  of 
Bedford  and  Sarah  his  Wife"  to  "Daniel  Mitchel  Jun.  of  the  same 
Parrish  and  County,"  dated  30th  day  of  April,  1771,  witnessed  by 
Richard  Stith,  Daniel  Mitchel,  Elisha  Pruit,  Jno.  Rogers  and  Harry 
Terrell,  and  recorded  June  25th,  1771,  in  Deed-Book  "D,"  pages 
86-87,  m  tne  Clerk's  Office  of  the  late  County  Court  of  Bedford 
County,  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  "in  consideration  of  the  sum  of 
Thirty  eight  pounds  current  money  of  Virginia,"  conveys  "one  cer- 
tain Track  or  parcel  of  Land  containing  by  estimation  one  hundred 
and  sixty  four  acres  be  the  same  more  or  less  '  [General  description 
of  the  tract  given  in  deed,  but  not  the  courses  and  distances] . 

The  foregoing  are  correct  Abstracts  of  the  Deeds  therein  referred 
to.  The  records  and  papers  of  the  late  County  Court  of  Bedford 
County  have  been  transferred  by  law  to  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Bedford  County,  Virginia.  Given  under  my  hand 
this  19th  day  of  September,  1908. 

C.  C.  Keeth, 

Deputy  Clerk  of  Bedford  Circuit  Court  of 

Bedford  County ',  Virginia. 

LETTERS  CONCERNING  DEEDS 

FROM    MISS    MARY   JOSEPHINE    ROE 

Gilbert,  Ohio,  September  28,  *o8. 

J.  Henry  Lea: 

Dear  Sir,  —  It  occurs  to  me  that  you  as  genealogist  may  naturally 
wish  to  know  my  authority  for  certain  dates  and  names  added  in 
record  of  the  Lincoln  mailed  you  recently. 


94 


APPENDIX 


About  fourteen  years  ago  I  went  to  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania. 
My  purpose  was  twofold :  to  gather  matter  for  a  private  family  gene- 
alogy I  was  preparing  at  the  time;  to  locate  and  visit  homestead 
farms  of  my  great-great-grandfathers,  Benjamin  Boone  and  William 
Tallman,  also  that  of  Benjamin,  son  of  the  latter,  and  especially  to 
learn  year  the  Tallmans  moved  to  Virginia.  In  my  undertaking  I 
looked  over  quite  a  number  of  old  deeds,  several  of  which  were 
very  curious. 

A  family  owning  a  part  of  Lincoln  lands  and  living  near  by  very 
courteously  permitted  me  to  examine  several  which  they  held.  A 
certain  one  of  these,  made  1769,  attracted  my  attention  particularly. 
1  only  regret  I  did  not  make  much  fuller  and  verbatim  notes  from  it 
in  the  interest  of  history.  My  recollection  is,  it  was  a  quitclaim  deed 
made  by  the  children  and  heirs  of  Mordecai  Lincoln,  whose  will  was 
proven  1736,  to  establish  right  of  posthumous  son  Abraham  through 
his  father's  will.  It  described  John,  of  Rockingham  County,  Virginia ; 
Thomas,  of  Manheim,  Lancaster  County ;  Francis  Yarnall,  of  Read- 
ing, and  Mary,  his  wife,  as  daughter  of  Mordecai  Lincoln,  deed.; 
Joseph  Millard,  Esq.,  of  Union  township,  as  husband  of  another 
daughter,  Hannah,  then  deceased;  also  three  children  of  this  couple, 
named  respectively  Mordecai,  Joseph,  jr.,  and  Barbara  Millard; 
William  Boone,  of  Exeter  township,  and  Sarah,  his  wife,  another 
daughter.  This  paper  was  quite  lengthy  and  did  not  include  son 
Mordecai  nor  daughter  Ann  Lincoln  Tallman. 

I  very  much  wish  it  were  possible  for  you  to  find  the  old  deed  I 
have  written  about,  and  print  it  entire  in  your  forthcoming  work. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Mary  Josephine  Roe. 

notes  of  deed much  abbreviated 

Date  1769. 

Quitclaim  to  posthumous  son  Abraham. 

John  Lincoln,  yeoman,  of  Augusta  Co.  in  Va. 

Thomas  Lincoln  of  Manheim  in  the  county  of  Lancaster,  Pa., 
yeoman. 

Francis  Yarnall  of  Reading  in  Co.  of  Berks,  yeoman,  and  Mary 
his  wife,  she  being  a  daughter  of  Mordecai  Lincoln,  late  of  Exeter 
Township,  yeoman,  deceased. 


APPENDIX  195 

Joseph  Millard,  Esq.,  Union  Township,  Berks,  husband  of  Han- 
nah, daughter  of  Mordecai  Lincoln  (she  deceased). 

Wm.  Boone,  Exeter  Township,  yeoman,  and  Sarah  his  wife  (I  think 
in  this  case  described  as  a  daughter  of  Mordecai  Lincoln  as  distinctly 
as  sisters  are). 

Mordecai  Millard  of  Union  Township,  yeoman,  a  son  of  Joseph 
and  Hannah  Millard  above  named,  and  grandson  of  Mordecai  Lin- 
coln; also  out  of  same  family  Joseph,  jr.,  James,  and  Barbara. 


FROM    JAMES    STEEN 

Eatontown,  N.  J.,  August  26,  1908. 

Mr.  J.  Henry  Lea: 

Dear  Sir, — As  I  wrote  you  briefly  yesterday  I  have  now  to  report: 
That  by  deed  dated  November  8,  1748,  recorded  May  1,  1757, 
John  Lincon,  "weaver,"  of  the  Township  of  Carnarvin,  County  of 
Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  son  and  heir  of  Mordecai  Lincon,  deed, 
(no  mention  of  his,  M.  L.'s,  dwelling-place),  sold  to  William  Dye, 
yeoman,  of  Middlesex  County,  N.  J.,  for  two  hundred  pounds  cur- 
rent money  of  New  Jersey,  at  8  shillings  to  the  ounce,  300  acres  on 
Cranbury  brook  in  Middlesex  County,  N.  J. 

This  300  acres  would  seem  to  have  been  part  of  400  acres  conveyed 
Mordecai  Lincon  by  deed  of  Richard  Salter,  February  2,  1720,  but 
not  recorded  till  October  9,  1753.  The  remaining  100  acres  would 
appear  to  be  that  conveyed  the  two  daughters  Hannah  and  Mary. 
The  deed  to  them,  however,  I  do  not  find,  and  the  reason  would 
seem  to  be  that  the  grantees  relied  upon  their  father's  will;  Hannah 
Lincon,  having  married  one  Joseph  Miilard  of  Amity,  conveyed 
"her  moiety"  to  William  Talman  (her  brother-in-law)  by  deed  of 
December  15,  1742.  This  deed  I  also  fail  to  find  of  record.  It  is 
recited  however  in  a  deed  from  William  Talman  and  Anne,  his  wife, 
and  Francis  Yarnall  "Cordwainer"  and  Mary  his  wife,  all  of  Amity, 
in  the  County  of  Philadelphia,  dated  May  10,  1743,  but  not  re- 
corded till  October  17,  1753.  This  then  shows  that  Ann  Lincon 
married  William  Talman,  Mary  Lincon  married  Francis  Yarnell, 
Hannah  Lincon  married  Joseph  Millard,  all  of  Amity.  The  grantee 
in  the  deed  was  Samuel  Leonard.  This  also  disposes  of  the  400  acres. 
But  there  was  another  100  acres,  also  purchased   by  Mordecai  of 


196  APPENDIX 

Richard  Salter  in  the  same  locality,  26  May,  1726,  i.  e.  at  Mache- 
ponix  in  Middlesex  County,  N.  J.  This  it  was  that  he  directed  his 
executrix  to  sell. 

By  a  deed  of  January  17,  1742,  not  recorded  until  1766,  "Mary 
Rogers"  gave  power  of  attorney  to  William  Talman,  to  sell  the 
said  100  acres  for  her.  This  he  did  by  deed  dated  May  10,  1743, 
recorded  November  16,  1766,  to  one  James  Abrahams  for  forty 
pounds,  and  reciting  therein  the  deed  from  the  executrix  to  himself 
he  calls  her,  "  Mary,  his  widow  and  sole  executrix,  who  now  being 
the  wife  of  Rodger  Rodgers." 

It  thereby  sufficiently  appears  that  prior  to  January  17,  1742, 
Mary,  the  widow  of  Mordecai  Lincon,  married  Rodger  Rodgers. 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  Macheponix,  in  Middlesex  County, 
N.  J.,  is  near  Cranbury  and  Hightstown,  N.  J.  In  fact  a  large  exent 
of  country  is  so  designated  in  the  earlier  records,  being  practically 
all  lands  bordering  on  the  Macheponix  River  or  Creek,  south  of 
Perth  Amboy.  The  name  is  an  Indian  word,  said  to  mean  "bad 
bread,"  meaning  thereby  a  poor  soil. 

Yours  truly, 

James  Steen. 

The  first  title  to  Mordecai  Lincon  is  by  the  following  conveyance, 
which  was  not  recorded  until  long  after  its  execution  and  then  by  a 
subsequent  purchaser,  to  complete  his  record  title. 

Richard  Salter  to  Mordecai  Lincon. 

Deed  dated  February  2,  1720.  Recorded  October  9,  1753.  Con- 
sideration 152  pounds.  Recorded  in  Book  H2,  page  150,  East  Jersey 
Deeds,  in  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

Conveys:  —  All  those,  &c.  on  Machaponix  River  and  Gravill 
Brook  in  the  County  of  Middlesex,  the 

1st  Tract,  Bounded  on  said  Matchaponix  River  on  ye  South,  ye 
Pine  Brook  on  ye  East,  by  land  now  or  late  of  William  Estill  on  ye 
West,  by  land  unsurveyed  on  ye  North. 

Also:  Bounded  West  by  Gravill  Brook,  South  by  William  Estill 
from  ye  mouth  of  Long  Meadow  run,  East  and  North  by  land  un- 
surveyed. 

Also  all  ye  long  meadow  upon  ye  long  meadow  run,  bounded 
West  by  ye  last  mentioned  tract  and  all  round  ye  other  sides  by 


APPENDIX  i97 

upland  unsurveyed,  in  all  containing  four  hundred  acres  more  or  less 
allowance  being  made  for  highways  and  barrens. 

This  property  was  afterwards  devised  by  Mordecai  Lincoln  to  his 
two  daughters  Hannah  and  Mary. 

Hannah  married  Joseph  Millard,  and  they,  by  deed  of  December 
15,  1742,  conveyed  Hannah's  moiety  to  her  brother-in-law,  William 
Talman,  the  husband  of  her  sister  Ann.  This  deed  I  have  not  found 
of  record.  The  next  conveyance  is  that  of 

William  Talman,  yeoman,  and  Ann  his  wife,  Francis  Yar- 
nall,  cordwainer,  and  Mary,  his  wife,  all  of  Amity  in  the  County 
of  Philadelphia,  to  Samuel  Leonard. 

Dated  May  10,  1743.  Recorded  October  17,  1753,  in  Book  H2, 
page  155,  Secretary  of  State's  office. 

Conveys  for  consideration  of  Eighty  pounds  same  premises,  "  all 
which  said  several  tracts  were  taken  up  and  surveyed  by  John  Reid, 
Jr.  and  by  him  conveyed  to  his  father  John  Reid,  Esq.,  (August  4, 
171 5)  Monmouth  County  Clerk's  Office  and  by  John  Reid  to  Rich- 
ard Salter,  November  27,  17 17,  and  by  Richard  Salter  to  Mordecai 
Lincon,  2  February,  1720,  and  by  Mordecai  Lincon  to  his  daugh- 
ters, Hannah  and  Mary  (now  wives  of  Joseph  Millard  and  Frances 
Yarnell)  which  is  likewise  fully  expressed  and  given  to  the  same  by 
the  said  Mordecai  Lincon  by  his  Last  Will  and  Testament,  which 
is  recorded  in  Philadelphia,  and  one  moiety  of  which  was  sold  by 
said  Joseph  Millard  and  Hannah,  his  wife,  to  William  Talman  by 
deed  of  December  15,  Anno  Domini,  1742.  Reference  to  all  the 
aforesaid  deeds,"  &c. 

There  was,  however,  another  tract  of  land  consisting  of  one  hun- 
dred acres,  and  the  same  which  Mordecai  Lincon  afterwards  devised 
to  his  executrix. 

The  first  deed  we  cite  is  :  — 

DUGALL  MACCOLLUM   tO   RlCHARD  SALTER. 

Recorded  in  Book  D3,page  125,  Secretary  of  State's  office.  Dated 
July  15,  1 7 1 9.   Recorded  November  14,  1766. 

Conveys,  for  the  consideration  of  fifty-four  pounds,  eighteen  shil- 
lings, New  York  currency,  one  hundred  acres. 

The  same  was  thereafter  conveyed  by  the  following  deed:  — 

Richard  Salter  to  Mordecai  Lincon  of  the  County  of  Chester, 
in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania. 


198  APPENDIX 

Dated  May  26,  1726.  Recorded  November  15,  1766,  in  Book 
D3,  page  130,  as  above.   Consideration  not  given. 

Conveys  :  — "all  that  tract,  &c.  in  the  County  of  Middlesex,"  &c. 

"  Beginning  at  a  Black  Oak  tree  marked  on  four  sides  standing  on 

the  North  side  of  a  small  slough  or  run,  which  is  on  the  North  side 

of  a  farm  formerly  William  Estill's  from  thence  running  North  39 

degrees  Westerly  seventeen  chains  to   Matchaponix  River,  thence 

down   the  same  to  the  mouth  of  a  brook  which  is  one   of  Robert 

Barclay's  corners  and  running  from  the  first  mentioned  Black  Oak 

tree  att  the  Beginning,  South  48  degrees  Easterly  forty  chains  more 

or  less  to  the  reere  lines  of  said  Estill's  Farm.  Thence  along  the 

same  North  and  by  East  and  half  a  point  Easterly  to  his  corner 

where  a  small  run  comes  into  the  brook  thence  down  the  brook  to 

the  above   named  Barclay's  corner   on  Matechponis  River,  which 

tract  of  land  by  estimation  one  hundred  acres  more  or  less  ...  as 

the  same  was  made  over  to  the  said  Richard  Salter  by  deed  of  sale 

from  Dugle  Mackalom  bearing  date  the  fifteenth  day  of  July,  Anno 

Domini,  17 19,  and  not  otherwise. 

Richard  Saltar. 

Witnesses : 

George  Morlatt, 
Richard  Saltar,  Jr. 
Ebenezer  Saltar. 

Proved  April  5,  1727,  by  Richard  Saltar,  Jr.,  before  John  Ander- 
son of  the  Governor's  Council  of  New  Jersey. 

This  was  the  property  which  the  executrix  of  Mordecai  Lincon's 
Will  was  directed  to  sell,  as  would  appear  by  the  two  deeds  which 
follow:  — 

Mary  Rogers,  of  Eseter,  in  the  County  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Province  of  Pennsylvania,  the  whole  and  sole  executrix  of  the  Last 
Will  of  Mordecai  Lincon,  "my  deceased  husband,"  to  William 
Talman  of  Amity  in  the  County  aforesaid,  my  son-in-law. 

Dated  January  17,  1742.  Recorded  November  28,  1766.  Book 
D3,  page  136,  East  Jersey  Deeds,  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  Tren- 
ton, N.  J.  Power  of  Attorney. 

Recites  husband's  Will  and  the  authority  to  sell,  and  empowers 
William  Talman  to  sell,  lease  and  otherwise  manage  or  dispose  of 
certain  one  hundred  acres,  on  Matchiponix.  Witnesses:  —  George 
Boone  and  Roger  Rogers. 


APPENDIX 


99 


Roger  Rogers  was  probably  the  husband  of  the  grantor  and  his 
witnessing  would  seem  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  consent,  George 
Boone  was  a  Justice  of  Peace  and  the  grantor  acknowledged  the  deed 
before  him  as  such  Justice. 

In  virtue  of  the  power  given  him  by  the  foregoing  William  Tal- 
man  conveyed  the  premises  by  the  following  deed:  — 

William  Tallman  to  James  Abrahams. 

Deed  dated  May  10,  1743.  Recorded  November  16,  1766.  Book 
D3,  page  146.   Consideration  forty  pounds. 

Conveys:  —  "Tenement  and  tract  of  land,"  one  hundred  acres  at 
Macheponix,  and  recites  as  follows  "  which  said  tract  of  land  the  said 
Mordecai  Lincon,  by  his  last  will  and  testament  dated  ye  lid  of 
February ,  A.  Dom.  1 73 5,  which  is  recorded  in  Philladelphia,  did  order 
to  be  sold  by  Mary,  his  widow  and  sole  executrix,  who  now  being  the 
wife  of  Rodger  Rodgers  gave  full  power  to  the  sd.  William  Talman  to 
sell  and  convey  ye  same  in  manner  and  form  as  aforesd.  as  by  a  cer- 
tain Power  of  Attorney  from  said  Executrix  to  ye  said  William  Tal- 
man Dated  ye  17th  day  of  January  A.  Dom.  1742,  reference  there- 
unto May  fully  be  had  and  at  large  appear." 

The  land  which  John  Lincon  as  son  and  heir-at-law  received  from 
his  father  is  described  in  the  following  deed:  — 

John  Lincon,  "Weaver"  of  the  Township  of  Carnarvin,  County 
of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  son  and  heir  of  Mordecai  Lincon,  deceased,  to 
William  Dye. 

Dated  November  8,  1748.  Recorded  May  1,  1757,  in  Book  H2, 
page  437.  Consideration  200  pound  current  money  of  N.  J.  8  shil- 
lings to  the  ounce. 

Conveys  land  in  the  County  of  Middlesex. 

Beginning  where  the  land  formerly  Walter  Benthal's  crosses  Cram- 
berry  Brook,  from  thence  along  said  Benthal's  line  towards  the  post 
road  to  the  land  formerly  Robert  Burnets,  and  from  thence  along  said 
Burnets  line  in  breadth  so  far  that  a  parallel  line  to  the  foresaid  line 
of  Benthals  from  the  said  Burnets  line  to  said  Cramberry  brook  do 
contain  300  acres,  thence  along  the  course  of  said  Benthal's  line  to 
Cramberry  Brook  and  from  thence  down  the  brook  to  where  it  began, 
Bounded  West  by  land  formerly  Benthals,  North  by  land  formerly 
Robert  Burnets,  East  by  land  formerly  belonging  to  Herricon  and 
South  by  Cramberry  Brook. 


XII 
SURVEY  BILLS 

The  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin, 
Madison,  August  2,  1908. 

J.  Henry  Lea,  Esq.: 

Dear  Sir, — Yours  of  the  19th  inst.  reaches  this  office  during  the 
absence  of  Doctor  Thwaites  from  the  city.  I  have,  however,  had  a 
somewhat  hasty  search  made  through  the  Draper  Manuscripts  and 
find  the  following  references  to  the  Lincoln  entries  :  — 

25C36  (Boone's  Survey  Book),  undated,  but  context  shows  it  to 
be  July,  1776:  "  Lincoln  1000  akers." 

25C37:  "Taken  to  Richmond  .  .  .  Lincoln  for  warrant  of  1000 
akers  i6ooe." 

25C38  :  "Abraham  Lincoln  enters  500  acres  of  Land  on  a  treasury 
warrant  No.  5994  beginning  opposite  Charles  Yanceys  uper  Line  on 
the  South  side  of  the  River  Runing  South  200  poles  then  up  the 
River  for  Quntety  nth  Desember  1782." 

25C58,  p.  32  :  "  Abm  Linkhorn  enters  500  acrs  of  Land  on  a  T.  W. 
N°  5994  Begg  opposite  Yancey  upper  line  on  the  South  side  of  the 
River  RunE  South  200  poles  thence  up  the  River  for  Qty  a  copy  T. 
Marshall  S." 

25C84,  p.  50:  "Jainry  the  17th  1783  Hannaniah  Lincoln  Enters 
89723^2  acres  of  Land  on  two  tresury  Warrants  N°  8323  and  12409 
Beginning  on  Kantuckey  River  at  the  Lower  Ende  of  a  Large  Botom 
Where  Col0  Donelson  Stopt  his  Line  at  a  Large  Camp  and  trees 
Nocked  on  the  River  bank  Runing  north  two  Miles  then  Este  So 
far  that  Right  angles  to  the  river  and  Down  the  same  will  include 
the  Quntity." 

26C45  :  "  Survayd  for  Hannanighah  Lincoln  1000  acres  Begin  at 
2  Shuger  tress  W  400  p  to  2  Shuger  trees  N  400  p  to  2  Shuger  trees 
400  p  to  a  White  Oke  and  Hickury  &  400  p  to  the  beginning." 
This  is  apparently  under  date  of  April  22,  1785. 

26C98  :  "  Begining  at  Hananighah  Lincolns  S  E  Corner  at  2  Wal- 


APPENDIX  201 

nuts  Este  400  pos.  to  a  Linn  and  hickery  N  400  pos  to  1  White 
okes  W  400  pos  to  a  White  oke  &  to  the  begining." 

All  these  references  are  taken  from  the  series  in  the  Draper  Manu- 
scripts known  as  Boone  Papers. 

If  we  can  be  of  further  service  to  you  pray  call  upon  us. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Annie  A.  Nunns, 
Private  secy,  to  R.  G.  Thwaites. 

SURVEYOR'S  CERTIFICATE  FOR 
ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

\_Recorded  in  Kentucky  Survey  Book  4,  page  350.] 

Surveyed  for  Abraham  Linkhorn  400  acres  of  Land  in  Jefferson 
County  by  virtue  of  a  Treasury  Warrant  N°  3334  on  the  Fork  of 
Floyds  Fork  now  called  the  Long  Run  beginning  about  two  Miles 
up  the  said  Fork  from  the  Mouth  of  a  Fork  of  the  same  formerly 
called  Fells  Fork  at  a  Sugar  Tree  standing  on  the  side  of  the  same 
marked  SDB  and  extending  thence  East  300  poles  to  a  Poplar  and 
Sugar  Tree  North  213  ^  poles  to  a  Beech  and  Dogwood  West  300 
poles  to  a  White  Oak  and  Hickory  South  213^/3  poles  to  the 
Beginning — May  7th.  1785 

William  Shannon  D  S  J  C 

Exd.1  William  May  S  J  C 
Anania  Lincoln  and 
Abraham  Lincoln     C  C* 
Josiah  Lincoln     M.3 

Mem.  —  This  Survey  was  also  recorded  in  Jefferson  County  Records,  Book  B,  p.  60 
(see  facsimile  in  Cent.  Mag.,  November,  1886,  and  Nicolay  and  Hay);  but  there  the 
Chainmen  are  given  as  Hanananiah  Lincoln  and  Josiah  Lincoln,  and  the  Marker  as  Abra- 
ham Linkhorn.  As  the  above  document  is  the  original  entry,  it  is  most  probably  the 
correct  one. 

1  Exd.  =  Examined,  usually  precedes  the  name  of  the  County  Surveyor. 
1  CC=  Chainmen. 
3  M.  =  Marker. 


XIII 
THE   HERRING  FAMILY 

Harrisonburg,  Va.,  9-15,  1908. 
J.  Henry  Lea,  Esq.: 

Dear  Sir, —  I  regret  to  say  that  all  our  family  records  and  docu- 
ments, as  well  as  the  county  registers  and  records,  were  burned  by 
Gen.  Sheridan's  troops  in  June,  '62.'  As  all  the  older  members  of  my 
family  are  dead,  I  will  have  to  give  you  such  information  as  I  can  re- 
member from  statements  made  by  my  grandfather,  great-uncle,  and 
great-aunt,  who,  in  their  old  age,  frequently  discussed  the  family 
history  and  genealogy  in  my  presence. 

It  seems  that  the  first  immigrant  was  John  Herring,  who  ran  away 
to  sea  at  the  early  age  of  nine,  and  came  to  Virginia.  He  developed 
into  a  man  of  considerable  energy  and  ability,  and  by  his  influence 
secured  a  grant  from  George  II  to  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the  then 
Indian  infested  and  practically  unexplored  region,  since  famous  as  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  With  his  family  and  a  few  fearless  followers,  he 
took  possession  of  his  grant  and  reared  a  fort  at  Heronford,  where 
Thomas  Herring  now  lives.  He  succeeded  in  defending  himself 
against  the  Indians  in  many  bloody  fights,  and  reared  a  large  family. 
Four  of  his  sons  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War  under  Light 
Horse  Harry  Lee.  After  that  war  was  ended,  Light  Horse  Harry 
frequently  visited  and  hunted  with  them  many  weeks  at  a  time. 

Bathsheba  Herring,  as  I  recall  it,  was  a  daughter  of  Leonard 
Herring,  and  was  born  on  the  old  plantation  near  Bridgewater  in 
Rockingham  County,  Virginia.  She  got  her  name  and  her  Scotch 
blood  from  her  mother,  who  was  a  Scotch  Presbyterian.  The  name 
of  her  mother's  family  has  been  forgotten. 

1  On  the  march  \  Harrisonburg  to  Port  Republic,  4  June,  1864]  we  overtook  and  burned  a 
train  of  wagons  which,  loaded  with  material  of  war,  had  been  driven  from  Harrisonburg  as 
we  approached  that  place.  Very  curiously,  the  authorities  there  had  thought  it  best  to  re- 
move the  records  and  public  papers  from  the  various  county  offices  and  had  them  loaded  upon 
these  wagons.  Of  course  they  were  destroyed  in  the  general  burning.  —  Hist.  34th  Mass. 
Regiment,  by  Gen.  William  S.  Lincoln,  p.  298. 


APPENDIX  203 

Under  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  no  effort  was  made  for  many- 
years  to  communicate  with  the  family  in  England.  About  twenty-five 
years  ago.  Dr.  Burk  Christman,  through  some  friend  who  knew  the 
English  cousins,  made  investigations,  which  satisfied  him  that  the 
first  John  Herring  was  of  the  noble  English  family  of  that  name, 
one  of  whom  has  been  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Doctor  Christman 
secured  a  coat  of  arms  belonging  to  the  English  branch.  I  must 
confess,  I  regarded  the  matter  as  too  much  obscured  by  the  lapse  of 
time  to  deserve  of  great  credit. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  who  married  Bathsheba  Herring,  was  a  poor 
and  rather  plain  man.  Her  aristocratic  father  looked  with  scorn  on 
the  alliance,  and  gave  his  daughter  the  choice  of  giving  up  her  lover 
or  being  disinherited.  The  high-spirited  young  woman  did  not  hesitate. 
She  married  the  man  she  loved  and  went  with  him  to  the  savage  wilds 
of  Kentucky  in  1782.  Her  husband  was  afterwards  killed  by  an 
Indian,  but  one  of  her  sons,  a  lad  of  twelve  years,  killed  the  Indian 
and  avenged  his  father's  death.  Bathsheba  Herring  was  a  woman  of 
fine  intelligence  and  strong  character.  She  was  greatly  loved  and  re- 
spected by  all  who  knew  her. 

I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  give  more  extended  and  accurate  in- 
formation. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Charles  Griffin  Herring. 


XIV 

EPITAPHS   IN   LINVILL  CREEK 
CEMETERY,  VIRGINIA1 

To  the  Memory  of  Jacob  Lincoln  sr  who  was  born  on  the  1 8th 
day  of  November  175 1  and  departed  this  life  on  the  20th  day  of 
February  1822  Aged  71  years  9  months  and  2  days. 

Abraham  Lincoln  Born  March  15,  1799.  Died  June  18.  1851 
Aged  52  years  2  months  and  29  days. 

Sacred  to  John  Lincoln  who  departed  this  life  on  the  13th  day  of 
July  1 8 18  Aged  35  years  and  5  months  and  4  days. 

1  By  the  courtesy  of  Professor  Marion  D.  Learned  of  University  of  Pennsylvania. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Names  of  the  direct  ascendants  of  President  Lincoln  are  set  in  small  capitals.  Names 
having  no  genealogical  connection  with  the  Lincoln  family  are  set  in  italic.  In  respect  to 
collaterals,  the  list  of  names  does  not,  except  in  some  few  exceptional  cases,  go  beyond  the 
first  generation  after  severance  from  the  direct  line.  In  the  '«  Cognate  Families  "  only  the 
direct  ascendants  are  included. 


Alberye,  Margaret,  married,  first,  Robert 
Lincoln  ii,  28;  second,  Roger  Wright, 
29,  30. 

Berry,  Mrs.  Lucy  Shipley,  wife  of  Richard, 
85;  adopts  Nancy  Hanks,  1 06,  122, 
125.    See  also  Shipley,  Lucy. 

Berry,  Richard,  guardian  of  Nancy  Hanks, 
85,  106,  122,  125. 

Bird,  Anne.   See  Small,  Mrs.  Anne. 

Bird,  Edward,  20. 

Bird,  Henry,  20. 

Bird,  John,  guardian  of  Anne  and  Eliza- 
beth Lincoln,  15,  20,  22. 

Boone,  Anne,  married  Abraham  Lincoln 
in,  75,  105. 

Boone,  Daniel,  79,  98,  101,  103,  104. 

Boone,  Dinah,  married  Benjamin  Tallman, 
73  and  note  4,  105. 

Boone,  George,  trustee  under  will  of  Mor- 

DECAl  II,    71,  99. 

Boone,  James,  75. 

Boone,  Mrs.  Mary  Foulke,  wife  of  James, 

75- 
Boone,  Mrs.  Sarah  Lincoln,  wife  of  William, 

74- 
Boone,  William,  74  and  note  1,  100,  105. 

Boone  family,   98-105;  points  of  contact 

with  Lincoln  family,  105. 
Bowne,  Mrs.  Ann,  wife  of  William,  94. 
Bowne,  John    i,    father  of  Sarah   Bowne 

Salter,  92,  94;  other  issue  of,  94-96; 

139- 
Bowne,  John  11,  son  of  John  i,  91,  94,  95, 

139- 


Bowne,  Mrs.  Lydia  Holmes,  wife  of 
John  i,  92;  ancestry  of,  96,  97;  139. 

Bowne,  Obadiah,  139. 

Bowne,  Sarah,  married  Richard  Salter  i, 
92. 

Bowne,  William,  father  of  John  i,  93,  94; 
other  issue  of,  94. 

Bowne  family,  93-96. 

Brumfield,  Mrs.  Nancy  Lincoln,  wife  of 
William,  79  note  2,  85. 

Brumfield,  William,  85. 

Buffalo,  Kentucky,  birthplace  of  the  Presi- 
dent, 86. 

Bush,  Sarah.  See  Lincoln,  Mrs.  Sarah  Bush 
Johnston. 

Carbrooke,  England,  39  seqq. 

Chancery  Proceedings,  records  of,  furnish  key 

to  ancestry  of  Samuel  Lincoln,  I  3  seqq. 
Clare,  Maud,  Countess  of,  39. 
Clare,  Roger,  Earl  of,  39. 
Codesmore,  Manor  of  (Rutlandshire),  10. 
Cole,   Elizabeth,    granddaughter   of  Mor- 

decai  Lincoln  i,  65. 
Cowper  (Cooper),  Joan,  married  Robert 

Lincoln  i,  31  and  note  2. 
Crume  (Krume),  Mrs.  Mary  Lincoln,  wife 

of  Ralph,  85. 
Crume,  Ralph,  85. 

Dunham,  Margery,  third  wife  of  Richard 
Lincoln  i,  17;  death  of,  17,  20. 

Friend,  Dennis,  108  and  note  1,  129  and 
note  2. 


208 


INDEX 


Gannett,  Mrs.  Mary,  second  wife  of  Mor- 

decai  Lincoln  i,  65. 
Grigsby,  Aaron,  86. 
Grigsby,  Mrs.  Nancy  (or  Sarah)   Lincoln, 

sister  of  the  President,  death  of,  86,  126. 
Gunthorpe,   Mrs.  Elizabeth.   See   Lincoln, 

Elizabeth  II. 
Gunthorpe,  William,  27. 
Gurney,Mrs.  Anne.   See  Lincoln,  Anne  1. 
Gurney,  Robert,  27. 

Hanke  family,   possible  descent  of  Joseph 

Hanks  from,  1 1  5  seqq. 
Hanks,  Dennis.   See  Friend,  Dennis. 
Hanks,  Elizabeth.   See  Sparrow,  Elizabeth 

Hanks. 
Hanks,  John,  son  of  Joseph  11,  131,  132, 

133- 
Hanks,  Joseph  i,  father  of  Nancy  Hanks 

Lincoln,  85,  108;  doubts  as  to  descent 

of,  112  seqq.;  other  issue  of,  120-122. 

Hanks,  Joseph  11,  son  of  Joseph  1,  121,  125. 

Hanks,  Nancy,  married  Thomas  Lincoln 
iv,  85.  And  see  Lincoln,  Mrs.  Nancy 
Hanks. 

Hanks,  Mrs.  Nancy  Shipley,  wife  of 
Joseph  i,  85,  108,  1 19. 

Hanks  family,  1 12-122;  characteristics  of, 
138. 

Herring,  Bathsheba,  second  wife  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  iv,  79  and  note  3.  And 
see  Lincoln,  Mrs.  Bathsheba  Herring. 

Herring,  John,  father  of  Leonard  Her- 
ring, 109. 

Herring,  Leonard,  father  of  Mrs.  Bath- 
sheba Herring  Lincoln,  79,  110. 

Herring,  Mrs.  Leonard,  iio. 

Herring  family,  108,  112;  characteristics 
of,  138. 

Hingham  {England),  3  seqq. ;  semi-depopu- 
lated by  exodus  to  New  England,  8,  9  ; 
parish  register  of,  defective,  11,  12,  28, 
29. 

Hingham  {England)  Manor  Rolls,  25  and 
note. 

Hingham  {Mass.),  64;  Lincolns  settled  in, 
135  seqq. 


Holbrook,  Mary,  married  Jacob  Lincoln  1, 

66. 
Holmes,   Mrs.  Catherine,  wife  of  Oba- 

diah,  94,  96. 
Holmes,  John,  1  39. 
Holmes,  Jonathan,  139. 
Holmes,  Lydia,  married  John  Bowne,  92. 
Holmes,     Obadiah     i,    father    of   Lydia 

Holmes  Bowne,  94,  96;  other  issue  of, 

97;  139- 
Holmes,  Obadiah  11,  139. 

Holmes  family,  96-97. 

Johnston,  Charles,  129. 

Johnston,  Daniel,  85,  129. 

Johnston,  John  D.,  son  of  second  wife  of 

Thomas  Lincoln  iv,  132. 
Johnston,  Mrs.  Sarah  Bush.    See  Lincoln, 

Mrs.  Sarah  Bush  Johnston. 
Jones,  Abraham,    father   of  Sarah  Jones 

Lincoln,  65,  89;  other  issue  of,  90. 
Jones,  Mrs.  Ann,  first  wife  of  Thomas,  88, 

89. 
Jones,  Mrs.  Ann  Lincoln,  wife  of  William, 

74- 
Jones,    Mrs.    Elizabeth,     second    wife    of 

Thomas,  89. 
Jones,  Robert,  brother  of  Thomas,  87,  88. 
Jones,  Sarah,  married  Mordecai  Lincoln  i, 

65. 
Jones,    Mrs.    Sarah   Whitman,   wife  of 

Abraham,  65,  89,  90. 
Jones,  Thomas,  father  of  Abraham,  87,  88, 

89. 
Jones  family,  87-90. 

Kett,  Mrs.  Alice,  wife  of  Robert,  56. 

Kett,  John,  42,  43,  45,  46,  59. 

Kett,  Mrs.  Mary  Remching,  wife  of  John, 

43»  44- 
Kett,  Robert,  47,  50,  5  1  seqq. ;  execution 

of,  58. 
Kett,  Thomas,  46,  47. 
Kett,  William,  51  seqq.;  execution  of,  58. 
Ketts  of  Wymondham,  origin  of,  45.     And 

see  Norfolk  Furies,  The. 
Kimberley,  Earl  of,  25  note. 


INDEX 


209 


Laud,  Archbishop,  6-8. 

Lawes,  Francis,  Samuel  Lincoln  appren- 
ticed to,  4,  63  and  note  2. 

Lincoln,  Abraham  1,  son  of  Mordecai  i, 
65,  66,  67,  68. 

Lincoln,  Abraham  11,  son  of  Abraham  1, 
67;  issue  of,  67. 

Lincoln,  Abraham  ill,  posthumous  son  of 
Mordecai  ii,  71,  75;  issue  of,  75;  76, 
105,   137. 

Lincoln,  Abraham  iv,  son  of  John  hi,  and 
grandfather  of  the  President,  77,  78  and 
note  3,  80  seqq.;  murder  of,  82,  83  and 
note  ;   84,  85,  132  note. 

Lincoln,  Abraham  v,President  of  the  U.  S., 
77  note  3,  78  note  2,  86,  126,  127,  130, 

Lincoln,  Adam  de,  progenitor  of  Essex  and 

Norfolk  (?)  Lincolns,   10. 
Lincoln,  Agnes,  daughter  of  Robert  ii,  29. 
Lincoln,  Anne   1,  daughter  of  Richard  i, 

by   his  fourth  wife,   15    seqq.,    18,    20, 

22,    23,    25  ;  marries  Robert  Gurney, 

27. 
Lincoln,  Anne,   daughter  of  Mordecai  ii, 

7  1  ;  marries  William  Tallman,  73  ;  issue 

of,  73. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Anne,  wife  of  Abraham  11, 

67. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Anne  Boone,  wife  of  Abra- 
ham in,  75. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Anne  Rambo,  wife  of  Jacob  11, 
68. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Anne  (Small),  fourth  wife  of 
Richard  1,  17,  18  ;  controversy  of,  with 
Edward  Lincoln,  i  8  seqq. ;  authors'  esti- 
mate of  her  character  and  conduct,  18- 
19  ;    23,  24,  26  ;   death  of,  27. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Bathsheba  Herring,  wife 
of  Abraham  iv,  and  grandmother  of  the 
President,  79,  80  and  note  2,  83,  85, 
109  ;  ancestry  of,  1 08-1 12  ;  1 87-191, 
202,  203. 

Lincoln,  Daniel,  brother  of  Samuel  the  emi- 
grant, 5,  27,  64,  135. 

Lincoln,  Deborah,  daughter  of  Mordecai  ii, 
72. 


Lincoln,  Edward,  son  of  Richard  i  by  his 
first  wife,  and  father  of  Samuel  the  emi- 
grant, 11,  12;  litigation  of,  with  half- 
sisters,  14  seqq.  ;  disinherited  by  his 
father,  19  ;   20,  22,  23,  25,  26  ;  death 

of,  27  ;    38»  39.  4°>  44- 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Edward,  mother  of  Sam- 
uel, 6  ;  uncertainty  concerning  identity 
of,   1  1 . 

Lincoln,  Elizabeth  1,  daughter  of  Robert  i, 
and  wife  of  Hugh  Baldwin,  3  1 . 

Lincoln,  Elizabeth  11,  daughter  of  Richard  i, 
by  his  fourth  wife,  15  seqq.;  17,  18, 
20,  22,  23,  25  ;  marries  William  Gun- 
thorpe,  27. 

Lincoln,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Thomas  11,  75. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Remching,  first 
wife  of  Richard  i,  and  grandmother  of 
Samuel,  39,  40,  41,  44,  59. 

Lincoln,  Hannah,  daughter  of  Mordecai  ii, 
marries  Joseph  Millard,  72  ;  issue  of,  72. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Hannah  Salter,  first  wife 
of  Mordecai  ii,  and  great-great-grand- 
mother of  the  President,  70,  72,  76  ; 
ancestry  of,  90-97. 

Lincoln,  Hannaniah,  74  note  4,  75  note  I, 
82  and  note  2. 

Lincoln,  Henry,  son  of  Richard  i  by  his 
fourth  wife,  and  half-brother  of  Edward, 
16  note  2,  18,  19,  20,  26,  27  ;  death 
of,  28  ;  38. 

Lincoln,  Isaac  1,  son  of  Mordecai  1,  65,  66. 

Lincoln,  Isaac  11,  son  of  Abraham  1,  67. 

Lincoln,  Isaac  in,  son  of  John  hi,  and 
grand-uncle  of  the  President,  77,  124. 

Lincoln,  Jacob  1,  son  of  Mordecai  i,  65,  66; 
issue  of,  66. 

Lincoln,  Jacob  11,  son  of  Abraham  1,  67  ; 
issue  of,  68. 

Lincoln,  Jacob  in,  son  of  John  hi,  and 
grand-uncle  of  the  President,  77  ;  chil- 
dren of,  77,  78  and  note  3  ;    137. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.   Joan,  widow  of  Robert  i, 

Lincoln,  Johan  de,  wife  of  Adam,  10. 
Lincoln,  "Sir"  John,  rector  of  Weeting 
(1387),  10. 


2  IO 


INDEX 


Lincoln,  John  I,  29. 

Lincoln,  John  11,  son  of  Abraham  1,  68. 

Lincoln,  John  hi,  called  "  Virginia  John," 
son  of  Mordecai  n,  and  great-grand- 
father of  the  President,  76,  77,  78,  132 
note,  137. 

Lincoln,  John  iv,  son  of  John  hi  and  grand- 
uncle  of  the  President,  jj. 

Lincoln,  Josiah,  son  of  Abraham  iv  and 
uncle  of  the  President,  82,  83  ;  issue  of, 
84  and  note  6. 

Lincoln,  Katherine,  daughter  of  Robert  ii, 
29. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Margaret  Alberye,  wife 
of  Robert  ii,  28  ;  marries  Roger 
Wright,  29,  30. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Margery  Dunham,  third  wife 
of  Richard  i,  i  7. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Martha,  wife  of  Samuel, 
64,  87. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary,  second  wife  of  Mor- 
decai ii,  70  ;  marries  Roger  Rogers,  70. 
See  also  Rogers,  Mrs.  Mary. 

Lincoln,  Mary,  daughter  of  Mordecai  ii, 
marries  Francis  Yarnall,  72. 

Lincoln,  Mary,  daughter  of  Abraham  iv, 
and  aunt  of  the  President,  marries  Ralph 
Crume,  85. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  Gannett,  second  wife 
of  Mordecai  i,  65. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  Holbrook,  first  wife  of 
Jacob  1,  66. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  Shipley,  first  wife  of 
Abraham  iv,  79,  80  and  note  4,  84  ; 
ancestry  of,  1 05- 108. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  Shute,  wife  of  Isaac  11, 

67.   ' 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  Webb,  wife  of  Mor- 
decai in,  74. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai  i,  son  of  Samuel,  and 
great-great-great-grandfather  of  the  Presi- 
dent, 64,  87,  90,  132  note. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai  ii,  son  of  Mordecai  i, 
and  great-great-grandfather  of  the  Presi- 
dent, 65,  66,  68,  69,  70,  72,  76,  93, 
1  32  note. 

Lincoln,  Mordecai  in,  son  of  Abraham  1,  68. 


Lincoln,  Mordecai  iv,  son  of  Mordecai  ii, 

74  ;   issue  of,  74  ;    137. 
Lincoln,  Mordecai  v,  son  of  Abraham  iv, 

and  uncle  of  the  President,  82,  83,  84  ; 

issue  of,  84  ;    123,137. 
Lincoln,  Nancy,  daughter  of  Abraham  iv, 

and  great-aunt  of  the  President,  marries 

William  Brumfield,  85. 
Lincoln,  Nancy,   daughter  of  Thomas  iv, 

and  sister  of  the  President,  marries  Aaron 

Grigsby,  86,  1  26. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Nancy  Hanks,  first  wife  of 

Thomas  iv,  and  mother  of  the  President, 

85  and  note   2  ;  ancestry  of,    105-108 

(Shipley),  11  2-1  22  (Hanks)  ;  adopted 

by  Mrs.  Lucy  Berry,  122,  125  ;  death 

of,  129. 
Lincoln,  Nicholas,  rector  of  Caistor-next- 

the-Sea,  9. 
Lincoln,  Nicholas,  of  Rollesby,  poacher,  9, 

10. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Rebecca,  wife  of  Abraham  1, 

67 ' 
Lincoln,  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Abraham  1, 

marries  Joseph  Rush,  67. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Rebecca,  wife  of  John  hi,  77 
and  note  2,  78. 

Lincoln,  Richard  i,  grandfather  of  Sam- 
uel the  emigrant,  11,  14;  proceedings 
in  Chancery  concerning  estate  of,  15; 
his  inheritance,  15,  16;  his  four  mar- 
riages, 16,  17  ;  influence  of  his  fourth 
wife  on,  and  his  will,  1  8-20  ;  disinherits 
eldest  son  Edward,  19  ;  death  of,  at 
Swanton  Morley,  22  ;  23,  24,  26,28, 
30,  35,  40. 

Lincoln,  Richard  11,  son  of  Richard  i  by 
second  wife,   17,  23,  25,  28. 

Lincoln,  Robert  i,  grandfather  of  Rich- 
ard 1,  30,  31,  34,  35. 

Lincoln,  Robert  ii,  father  of  Richard  i, 
ii,  14,  16,  28,  29,  35. 

Lincoln,  Robert,  of  Hellington,  34. 

Lincoln,  Rose,  the  elder,  daughter  of  Rob- 
ert 1,  3  1 . 

Lincoln,  Rose,  the  younger,  daughter  of 
Robert  i,  31. 


INDEX 


211 


Lincoln, Samuel, the  emigrant,  son  of  Ed- 
ward, and  great-great-great-great-grand- 
father of  the  President,  born  in  Hingham, 
Eng.,  4  ;  apprenticed  in  Norwich,  4  ; 
goes  to  America,  4  ;  exact  age  of,  uncer- 
tain, 4,  5  ;  baptism  of,  4,  6  ;  date  of 
death  of,  5;  Rev.  R.  Peck's  influence 
on,  9  ;  parentage  of,  II  ;  27,  38,  59, 
63,  64,  87,  132  note;  prominent  men 
descended  from,  136-138. 

Lincoln,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Abraham  1,  68. 

Lincoln,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Mordecai  ii, 
marries  William  Boone,  74,  105. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Sarah  Bush  Johnston,  second 
wife  of  Thomas  iv,  and  stepmother  of 
the  President,  85,  129. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Sarah  Jones,  first  wife  of 
Mordecai  1,  65,  66;  ancestry  of,  87-90. 

Lincoln,  Mrs.  Susanna,  second  wife  of  la- 
cob  1,  66. 

Lincoln,  Thomas  1,  brother  of  Samuel,  5, 
6,  27,  38,  64,  134. 

Lincoln,  Thomas  11,  son  of  Mordecai  ii, 
75  ;   issue  of,  75  ;    137. 

Lincoln,  Thomas  in,  son  of  John  hi,  and 
great-uncle  of  the  President,  77. 

Lincoln,  Thomas  iv,  son  of  Abraham  iv, 
and  father  of  the  President,  80  ;  who  was 
his  mother?  80,  187-191  ;  82,  85; 
death  of,  86  and  note  2  ;  life  and  char- 
acter of,  123  seqq.  ;  born  in  Virginia, 
123  ;  in  Kentucky,  123  ;  witnesses  his 
father's  murder,  123  ;  poverty  of,  124  ; 
learns  carpenter's  trade,  124,  125  ;  edu- 
cation of,  125  ;  marriage  of,  125  ;  moves 
to  Indiana,  128  ;  death  of  wife  Nancy, 
129;  marries  Mrs.  Sarah  Bush  John- 
ston, 129  ;  religious  belief  of,  130; 
moves  to  Illinois,  1 3  1  ;  his  frequent  mi- 
grations, 131,  132  ;   death  of,   133. 

Lincoln,  Thomas  v,  infant  brother  of  the 
President,  86. 

Lincoln,  William  de,  10. 

Lingcole  (Lincoln),  Thomas  de,  10. 

Millard,  Mrs.  Hannah  Lincoln,  wife  of 
Joseph,  72. 


Moody,  Sir  Henry,  93  note  3. 

Moody,  Lady,  wife  of  Sir  Henry,  93   and 

note  3. 
Mott,  Gershom,  95,  139. 

Norfolk  County  (England),  defective  regis- 
ters of,  I  1  and  note. 
Norfolk  Furies,  The,  54. 
Northampton,  Marquis  of,  53,  54. 
Norwich,  4,  5,  8,  9,  10. 

Parish  Registers,  first  ordered  to  be  kept, 
in  England,  1  1  note  ;  lack  of  care  in  pre- 
servation of,  12. 

Peck,  Rev.  Robert,  baptises  Samuel  Lin- 
coln, 6  ;  and  Archbishop  Laud's  edict 
of  1634,  6-8  ;  excommunicated,  leads 
exodus  to  New  England,  8  ;  1 1,  15. 

Rambo,  Anne,  married  Jacob  Lincoln  11, 
68. 

Remching,  Anne,  39. 

Remching,  Edward,  40,  41,  42. 

Remching,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Richard, 
41,  42  ;  her  will,  43,  44. 

Remching,  Elizabeth,  first  wife  of  Rich- 
ard Lincoln  i,  16  and  note  1. 

Remching,  Mary,  wife  of  John  Kett,  and 
sister  of  Elizabeth  Remching  Lincoln, 
46,  59. 

Remching,  Richard  i,  16  and  note  1,  39, 

41.  59- 
Remching,  Richard  11,  42. 

Remchings,  origin  of,  39  seqq. 

Robeson,    Jonathan,  trustee  under  will   of 

Mordecai  Lincoln  ii,  71  and  note  1. 
Rogers,  Mrs.  Mary,  widow  of  Mordecai 

Lincoln  ii,  and  wife  of  Roger  Rogers, 

70,  71,  72,  74. 
Rogers,  Roger,  70  and  note  4. 

St.  Mary  Coslany,  Norwich,  tablet  in,  10. 

Salter,  Hannah,  married  Mordecai  Lin- 
coln ii,  70. 

Salter,  Richard  i,  father  of  Hannah  Salter 
Lincoln,  68,  69,  70,  90-92  ;  other 
issue  of,  92,  93,  138. 


2  12 


INDEX 


Salter,  Richard  n,   139. 

Salter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Bovvne,  wife  of  Rich- 
ard 1,  70,  92,  95. 

Salter  family,  90-93. 

Sheffield,  Lord,  54. 

Shipley,  Lucy,  sister  of  Mary  Shipley  Lin- 
coln and  Nancy  Shipley  Hanks,  adopts 
Nancy  Hanks,  106,  122. 

Shipley,  Mary,  married  Abraham  Lincoln 
iv,  79. 

Shipley,  Robert,  father  of  Mary  Shipley 
Lincoln,  and  of  Nancy  Shipley  Hanks, 
105,  106  ;  other  issue  of,  106-108  ; 
1 19. 

Shipley,  Mrs.  Sarah,  wife  of  Robert,  79, 
106. 

Shipley  family,  105-108. 

Shute,  Mary,  married  Isaac  Lincoln  11,  67. 

Small,  Mrs.  Anne,  fourth  wife  of  Richard 
Lincoln  i,  17.  And  see  Lincoln,  Mrs. 
Anne. 

Small,  Richard,  son  of  Mrs.  Anne  Small,  20. 

Sparrow,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Hanks,  wife  of 
Thomas,  and  sister  of  Nancy  Hanks 
Lincoln,  128,  1  29. 

Sparrow,  Thomas,  129. 

Sunny  South,  The,  78  note  3,  83  note  4, 
84  note  1. 

Swanton  Mor/ey,  15,  19,  20,  22,  26,  28. 


Tallman,  Mrs.  Anne  Lincoln,  wife  of  Wil- 
liam, 73. 

Tallman,  Benjamin,  son  of  William,  73, 
105. 

Tallman,  Mrs.  Dinah  Boone,  wife  of  Ben- 
jamin, 73. 

Tallman,  William,  70,  72,  73  and  note  2, 

74- 
Tower,  Mrs.  Sarah  Lincoln,   daughter  of 

Mordecai  Lincoln  i,  65,  66. 

"  Virginia  John."    See  Lincoln,  John  hi. 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  55,  56,  57. 

Webb,  Mary,  married  Mordecai  Lincoln  in, 

74- 
Whitman,  John,  father  of  Sarah  Whitman 

Jones,  89  and  note  3. 
Whitman,    Mrs.    Ruth,    wife    of  John, 

89. 
Whitman,  Sarah,  married  Abraham  Jones, 

89. 
Wren,  Matthew,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  8. 
Wright,   Mrs.  Margaret  Alberye.   See  Al- 

berye,    Margaret,    and  Lincoln,   Mrs. 

Margaret  Alberye. 
Windsor,  Walter  de,  10. 

Yarnall,  Francis,  72  and  note  4. 


i 


